On this episode of Behind the Byline, host Jaden Jefferson sits down with University of Toledo professor Dr. Linda Rouillard to discuss Ohio Senate Bill 1 and how the University of Toledo responded to the new law.
The bill, signed into law by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine in March, bans diversity, equity, and inclusion activities at public higher education institutions; prevents faculty from striking; requires the elimination of programs producing fewer than five graduates in a three-year span; and makes many other changes.
Rouillard offers her personal perspective on:
• recent cuts to programs at Utoledo in response to the bill’s passage, and how that will lead to a “direct path to the bottom”
• how “righting a wrong by creating another wrong” could negatively impact students statewide and their educational experience
• the challenge of critically analyzing subject matter under the new law and what role the university experience can play in a student’s development
• and how UToledo is creating workers for industrial needs while sacrificing critical thinking
New episodes of the Behind the Byline drop every Wednesday on the Pod Station.
Behind the Byline is a production of the Toledo Free Press.
