Ohio governor Mike DeWine signed the Enact CAMPUS Act into law Wednesday, requiring the state’s public and private higher education institutions to adopt and enforce policies on racial, religious and ethnic harassment and intimidation, The Ohio Capital Journal reported.
“We want to make sure that we are creating an environment where every student—no matter who they are, who they pray to, what ethnicity or religious background they have—have the best opportunity to learn and to live and be on campuses and be spaces of community,” Democratic state representative Dontavius Jarrells, who co-sponsored the legislation, said last month.
The law comes in response to a reported rise in antisemitic incidents on college campuses since the Israel-Hamas war started last October.
Roughly 40 people were arrested during pro-Palestinian protests at Ohio State University last spring, along with hundreds of others across the country. Ohio State is also facing a formal complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Education alleging that Jewish student “faced a litany of antisemitic incidents, verbal taunts and threats” and “outright physical assault” since the war started.
“The need for this legislation is evident in recent events on college campuses across Ohio and the nation,” Jarrells said. “Students should not have to live in fear of expressing their identities or beliefs.”
Republican state representative Justin Pizzulli, who co-sponsored the bill, said, “Our universities are becoming a breeding ground” for antisemitism, according to the Capital Journal. And after he spoke to 50-plus college students across Ohio, Pizzulli said, it’s “clear this hate must be stopped.”
At a committee hearing last month, the Inter-University Council of Ohio also expressed support for the legislation, then known as House Bill 606.
“Our universities are committed to fostering a safe, inclusive, and respectful educational environment for all students,” Nick Derksen, IUC’s vice president of government relations, testified. “HB 606 provides a framework to help all institutions of higher education in Ohio achieve this.”
