Ohio State has banned land acknowledgements from written class materials and verbal statements, unless directly related to the subject of the course. Credit: Daniel Bush | Campus Photo Editor
Ohio State has banned land acknowledgements from written class materials and verbal statements, unless directly related to the subject of the course, to comply with Senate Bill 1.
SB 1 is a bill passed by the Ohio legislature that bans diversity, equity and inclusion programming, as well as faculty striking, per prior Lantern reporting. A land acknowledgement is a statement that Indigenous people and their communities were the original stewards of land occupied by land-grant universities, including Ohio State.
According to the policy that was launched late August, “Land acknowledgements are considered statements on behalf of an issue or cause and cannot be issued on behalf of a unit, college, department, etc., used at university-sponsored events (virtual or in person) or placed on any university channel or resource such as websites, social media, signage, meeting or event agendas, event programs, etc.”
The policy then states that Ohio State will continue to “honor” the history of the state but will not issue any statements taking a position or “engaging in advocacy” around this.
“Faculty retain their academic freedom and may address acknowledgements where relevant to the subject matter of the class,” Ben Johnson, university spokesperson, said in a statement. “The guidance does not categorically prohibit land acknowledgements.”
Johnson also said that this policy aligns with the academic freedom and responsibility faculty rules, which enables faculty to “exercise their constitutional rights as citizens without institutional censorship or discipline.”
All faculty members are allowed to discuss any material relevant to the subject matter as defined in the course syllabus, according to the academic freedom and responsibility faculty rules.
Johnson said that this new SB1 compliance follows the university’s 2023 policy that the university must “maintain the neutrality that assures academic freedom and freedom of speech and expression.”
The Department of Art in The College of Arts and Sciences had one of the many land acknowledgement statements at the university on their website. Now, when visiting the page, the link will take individuals to an “access denied” page.
