Johnson's Record Worrisome for Students at YSU

Congressman Bill Johnson becoming YSU’s next President has been a point of contention in the community. Frustration concerning the hiring of a politician, with highly polarizing political views, and absolutely no background in academia, is to be expected even if not unusual. 

Increasingly, universities are pursuing this tactic after being tightly squeezed by state funding cuts. Ohio’s budget this year included several provisions specifically targeting funding at public higher education institutions. These included changes to the rates on tuition increases and the State Share of Instruction formula.

This isn’t the only pressure point public universities in Ohio are facing. The trustees that govern them are appointed by the Governor with advice and consent from the Ohio Senate. The Chair of the Senate Workforce and Higher Education Committee, the committee that votes to approve these appointments, requires a questionnaire that feels like a political litmus test, and uses the word “workforce” more often than the word “student.”

This Chair, alongside the Ohio Senate President, convened a first-ever Trustees summit featuring presentations directing trustees to push back against left-leaning policies and eliminate staff and fields of study, even if met with resistance. He introduced SB 83, widely criticized for its impacts on critical thinking, academic missions, and student success by banning faculty strikes, Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) requirements, and educators’ ability to correct factual falsehoods. 

Although not a national trend, educational institutions have become politicized and targeted in conservative-led states, most likely because college graduates are increasingly voting Democratic. That’s true to form when Ohio conservatives feel they are losing power. For example, on the state school board, they dismantle the institution and change the rules instead of their unpopular policies. 

The pressures from the Statehouse are real. While these hires often inflame passions on campus, some say they lead to a successful presidency -- if the right person is chosen and the process is seen as fair. That is not the case in the hiring of Johnson.