It was 10:02 a.m. on Jan. 14, 2025, a brisk Tuesday when Cleveland State University President Laura Bloomberg, Ph.D., and nine other presidents of top Ohio universities gathered in a virtual conference. When the presidents left the call at noon, Senate Bill 1 had become a topic that they collectively decided not to publicly comment on.

The meeting on Jan. 14, 2025, was held by the Inter-University Council of Ohio (IUC). IUC labels itself as a unified voice of the 14 Ohio universities. According to the IUC mission statement, its purpose is to facilitate the development of common interest and concern of its members and to assist in sustaining and improving the quality of public higher education.

IUC President and former Republican state lawmaker Laura Lanese led the meeting with updates on finances, leadership positions within the council and media relations with other higher education councils. Once the ‘housekeeping topics’ were covered, the meeting moved its focus to SB1. 

According to meeting notes provided by the University of Akron and featured in an article by Signal Ohio’s Amy Morona, Lanese shared an overview of the 136th assembly, the committee chairs and senate and house members. Lanese explained that strike provisions which were removed from Senate Bill 83, the predecessor of SB1, as well as significant DEI changes would be included in the SB1.  At the time of the meeting, SB1 had yet to be introduced into the Ohio Senate. 

The meeting notes included the following as the final decision of the council on navigating SB1.

“The Council reached consensus that IUC would not take a formal position, that it would not actively engage publicly on the bill, that communication would be through the IUC President to individual members of the Legislature, and that any request for public comment on provisions in the bill should be used as an opportunity to refocus the conversation on what the IUC and Ohio’s public universities do support – access, affordability, and workforce, among others – and the many positive things Ohio’s public universities do and do well, both regionally and for the state.”

Signal reported that Republican state Senator Jerry Cirino, who sponsored SB1, apparently took the silence and neutrality from IUC as a sign that Ohio's leading universities were not overwhelmingly opposed to the legislation and his plan for higher education reform.

Contradictory Comments

On Tuesday, Feb. 18, Bloomberg sent an email to the CSU community, in which she made comments that seemed at odds with the IUC’s decision regarding commenting publicly and pushing back on SB1 legislation. 

“We will advocate for changes that support our students and our mission,” Bloomberg wrote in the email. “And we will join with other higher education institutions, as well as local and state entities in opposing federal changes that would be particularly detrimental to our mission.”

That position was, however, in line with comments Lanese had earlier provided Signal Ohio, in which she explained that although IUC decided to stay silent on the bill, each university leader was free to respond to the proposed legislation individually as they deemed appropriate for their community. 

Nevertheless, of the 10 university leaders at the IUC meeting, not one testified to the legislature during final passage of SB1.

A Fine Line

Exactly a month after her email to the CSU community, President Bloomberg and senior cabinet members met students at a listening session March 18, organized by the Student Government Association. 

The listening session was heavily focused on student concerns regarding SB1 and anti-DEI legislature due to the student-led nature of the session.

Bloomberg was open with the students at the session, noting the university’s plan to not act preemptively and apologizing to the students for the "whiplash" that the current legislature may feel like.

IUC was mentioned by Provost and Senior Vice President Dr. Nigamanth Sridhar when asked how the university is utilizing and uplifting student voices.

“The president and I, along with my colleague Patty Franklin, were in Columbus along with SGA President Justin Samsa, our two student trustees, and more importantly, 18 students from the Levin School of Urban Affairs,” Sridhar said. “We were there as part of IUC day. IUC is the Inter-University Council, which is a lobbying organization for all 14 public universities.” 

Sridhar explained that at the event, students had the opportunity to meet with six to seven Ohio legislators as well as Senator Cirino. The students had 30 minutes to ask Cirino questions and raise their concerns, according to Sridhar.

Bloomberg did not comment on IUC or IUC day at the session. Her comments on SB1 were heartfelt but lacked specifics. 

Threading a needle

At the CSU faculty senate meeting March 26, President Bloomberg did not address the IUC meeting directly. However, she did directly address SB1.

“I am not particularly interested in breathlessly or preemptively doing things before we need to, or before we think very carefully about what we absolutely need to do," Bloomberg said, adding however that, "We will comply."

“What we won't do is compromise our mission, the strategic plan that says we are Cleveland's university, which means that we're situated in a city and pledging to serve a city where the majority of people identify as a member of a minoritized group.”

She described as "threading a needle," a strategy which attempts to balance the demands of the state with the responsibility of its educators.

"I think it's very important to know that some of this work will continue," she concluded. "And our challenge is to figure out how to make that happen appropriately, respectfully and wisely within what we say our mission is and what our vision is."