Federal Judge Dismisses Professor's Suit Over University DEI Office Closures

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by a tenured professor seeking to reinstate diversity, equity, and inclusion offices and programs at Miami University in Ohio. Schell that the plaintiff had not shown the closures interfered with his own teaching, research, or speech.

The ruling addressed provisions of the Advance Ohio Higher Education Act, also known as S.B. 1, which requires state universities to end DEI offices, orientation programs, and certain training courses.

Judge McFarland wrote that the case did not involve compelled speech, threats of discipline, or restrictions on classroom instruction. The court noted that the university's decision to discontinue the programs constituted its own institutional speech.

The opinion stated that the professor had not provided legal authority supporting a right to require a public university to maintain specific offices or committees.

Statute Provisions S.B.

1 directs each state university board of trustees to adopt policies prohibiting DEI offices and training that promotes specified concepts about race and sex. Universities that fail to comply risk loss or reduction of state funding. The law also requires institutions to affirm commitments to intellectual diversity and to refrain from endorsing or opposing controversial beliefs as an institution.

The statute preserves faculty and student rights to classroom instruction, discussion, and debate. Plaintiff Darryl Rice, an associate professor of management at Miami University's Farmer School of Business, had participated in DEI programming and committees for over a decade before filing suit.