COLUMBUS, Ohio (WOWO) — An Ohio lawmaker is proposing a major expansion of the state’s authority over civics centers at public universities, potentially giving a state board control over faculty, course content and curriculum while making the centers the exclusive providers of required American civic literacy courses. House Bill 461, introduced by state Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, would significantly expand the role of the civics centers created under a 2023 Republican-backed law. The proposal comes less than a year after the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture and Society opened at Ohio State University. The center is one of five civics centers established at Ohio’s public universities under state law. Supporters say the centers are designed to promote intellectual diversity and counter what they describe as ideological “groupthink” on college campuses. Critics, including some Ohio State faculty and students, argue the centers represent inappropriate political interference in higher education and could promote a particular conservative perspective. Under HB 461, the five centers would be transformed into colleges within their respective universities, and their directors would become college deans. The legislation would also require university presidents or provosts to report on the centers’ progress at every meeting of their respective boards of trustees. The state and universities would be required to provide minimum levels of funding for the centers each year. The most significant change would come in the 2027-28 academic year, when authority over the centers would shift fully to the Ohio Civics Board. That board would have exclusive authority over the five centers, including their faculty, syllabi and course content. “While we want to partner with universities, we need these centers to teach consistent curriculum across the state and have the ability to operate independently without pushback,” Cirino said, according to NBC 4 WCMH. The proposal also would change how Ohio universities provide American civic literacy courses. Beginning this semester, all incoming freshmen at Ohio public universities are required to complete at least one three-credit course in American civic literacy. Currently, those courses can be offered through different colleges and departments within a university. HB 461 would make the state-established civics centers the “exclusive provider” of American civic literacy courses. That would effectively require students at universities with a civics center to take at least one course through that center as a condition of graduation. Universities without one of the state-mandated centers would still have to offer an approved American civic literacy course. At Ohio State, the Chase Center’s reach has expanded substantially since its first semester. Twenty-eight students took classes through the center in fall 2025. The university says 440 students are enrolled in Chase Center courses this fall, representing about 0.7% of the approximately 60,000 students on Ohio State’s Columbus campus. The proposal is drawing criticism from faculty members who question whether the state should dictate the academic structure and content of university courses. Pranav Jani, an Ohio State associate professor of English and former president of the university’s faculty advocacy group, questioned the political motivations behind the center. “Where are the questions about merit versus government handouts when it comes to the Chase Center?” Jani said, according to NBC 4 WCMH. “I think those are the kinds of questions (where) we should either ask them of everyone, or we should admit there’s a political agenda that’s being supported.” Supporters of the centers reject the idea that the program is designed to promote one political ideology. Cirino has argued that Ohio’s universities have experienced “decades-long indoctrination,” and that the civics centers are intended to introduce students to a broader range of viewpoints. He cited a 2025 Axis-Generation Lab poll showing 67% of college students had a positive or neutral association with the term “socialism,” compared with 40% for “capitalism.” Cirino has pointed to those results as evidence that greater exposure to different political and economic viewpoints is needed on college campuses. The civics centers describe their mission in terms of intellectual diversity and what they call a “reflective patriotism for America.” But opponents contend that intellectual diversity already exists throughout university classrooms and question why the state should establish separate academic centers to enforce it. The dispute reflects a larger national debate over the role of state governments in public higher education, particularly regarding political viewpoints, curriculum and faculty independence. In Ohio, that debate began with the 2023 law requiring the five public university civics centers. The Chase Center opened at Ohio State in fall 2025 despite opposition from some faculty and students. The centers have now become the focus of a proposed second phase of state oversight. If HB 461 becomes law, the Ohio Civics Board would have significantly greater authority over how the centers operate, including decisions affecting their professors and academic material. Cirino said the state needs that authority to ensure the centers can function independently of university officials who may oppose their mission. Critics argue that arrangement could instead undermine university independence by allowing state officials to determine who teaches courses and what students are taught. The legislation was introduced after the Ohio Statehouse’s summer recess began and is not expected to receive significant action until lawmakers return in November. The bill’s future could depend on how lawmakers balance two competing arguments: supporters’ demand for greater intellectual diversity and state oversight, and concerns from faculty and students that government control over university curriculum could itself become a form of ideological influence. For students, the most immediate potential change would be the requirement that American civic literacy courses be provided through the state-established civics centers rather than through the broader university curriculum. For Ohio’s public universities, the longer-term impact could be much broader if the state ultimately assumes exclusive control over the centers’ faculty, syllabi and course content beginning in 2027. The debate is likely to intensify when lawmakers return to Columbus in November. The post Ohio Bill Could Require College Students to Take Civics Courses Through State-Run Centers appeared first on WOWO News/Talk 92.3 FM and 1190 AM. ...read more read less