Ohio Gov. DeWine signed SB1, banning college DEI programs and forcing closure of LGBTQ campus centers

On March 28, 2025, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed Senate Bill 1, the "Advance Ohio Higher Education Act," into law, banning diversity, equity, and inclusion training, offices, departments, job descriptions, and scholarship requirements at Ohio's public colleges and universities. The law also barred faculty strikes, restricted classroom discussion of contested political topics, and created new post-tenure review and syllabus-disclosure requirements; it took effect roughly 90 days later, in late June 2025.

Although SB1 does not name LGBTQ students or programs, its ban on DEI infrastructure forced public universities to eliminate the offices that had served them. Ohio University announced it would close its Pride Center along with its Women's Center and Multicultural Center, eliminating all eight full-time positions across the three centers as it sunset its entire Division of Diversity and Inclusion, while Ohio State University took down its LGBTQ student-services website. Ohio University president Lori Stewart Gonzalez said the school would "follow the law" while looking for other ways to support affected students.