Despite assurances that Ohio’s Senate Bill 1 would eliminate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs from public universities, new undercover footage from Accuracy in Media suggests little has changed where it matters most: the classroom.
Many believe Ohio has eradicated DEI from higher education. But according to a senior academic official, DEI is alive and well at Ohio State.
Jennie Babcock, Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs, was recorded on video describing how the university has responded to SB1—not by eliminating DEI, but by preserving it where the law has limited reach.
“From a curriculum standpoint, there are no limitations in terms of what we teach,” Babcock said. Referring directly to SB1, she added: “The good news … was that it doesn’t impact our curriculum. So we are teaching our curriculum, our courses, as we always have. We talk about bias and social justice… We can talk about anything in a class as long as our learning objectives… are clearly stated.”
When asked if anything had changed, her answer was blunt: “Same. Same thing.”
The admission cuts to the core of the issue. While university leadership has dismantled visible DEI offices to comply with the letter of the law, the ideology remains embedded in coursework. Babcock confirmed that administrative entities like the Office of Diversity and Inclusion were shut down, but academic instruction remained untouched.
“What Senate Bill 1 did do was… dismantling… various student support entities,” she said. “Our Office of Diversity and Inclusion was shut down.”
But the infrastructure didn’t disappear—it shifted.
Student organizations, she explained, remain fully active and supported by the university. “Student organizations were not impacted … we have Out in Social Work … and we have a staff advisor who supports students in that.”
The result is a two-track system: public-facing compliance paired with internal continuity.
Babcock’s comments reveal the mindset driving that approach. Faculty, she said, are “passionate about how we teach our classes, what we teach… that we have freedom to teach what we want.” That freedom, in practice, has become the mechanism for preserving DEI on campus despite legislative bans.
Babcock even acknowledged a surge in concern from prospective students following the 2024 election, many asking whether ideological programming would continue. Her reassurance: it would.
“The good news… we teach as we always have,” she said. “We place students in diverse populations.”
Universities often claim DEI principles are required for accreditation in fields like social work. That claim has been used repeatedly to justify the prominence of identity-based frameworks in the curriculum. But states like Florida have already passed reforms that restrict DEI without dismantling entire academic programs. If Florida can do it, other states can as well.
What this footage shows is not confusion over the law, but a deliberate strategy to work around it.
If higher education is to be held accountable, enforcement cannot stop at administrative restructuring. It must address what’s actually being taught.
Take action by visiting DEIinOhio.com to send one message directly to university trustees and the Attorney General. Ohio taxpayers were promised reform. Instead, they’re funding institutions that appear to be complying in name only, while continuing the same ideological instruction behind closed doors.
This article originally appeared on Accuracy In Media. It is republished with permission.
