Ohio State cuts ties with DEI orgs, as police patrol center where prof charged with journalist attack
The Ohio State University is ending its partnership with a diversity, equity, and inclusion-oriented non-profit, and its police officers patrol the center after one of its professors allegedly attacked an independent journalist.
The U.S. Department of Education also told WOSU Public Media that another Ohio university, the University of Cincinnati, as well as other institutions of higher learning, signed similar agreements. At least 31 schools nationwide have ended their partnership with the organization, Insider Higher Ed reported.
The non-profit in question is The PhD Project, which critics say discriminates against white and Asian people via its DEI practices that the Department of Education under the Trump administration vowed to abolish. The PhD Project, founded in 1994, claims to help people earn doctoral degrees in business for diversity reasons, according to the news source.
The Department of Education criticized the university for supporting the non-profit because it invites only black, Hispanic, and American Indian potential doctoral students to its annual two-day conference, thus discriminating against white and Asian students.
“Our vision is to create a broader talent pipeline of current and future business leaders who are committed to excellence and to each other, through networking, mentorship, and unique events,” the organization told WOSU. “The PhD Project was founded with the goal of providing more role models in front of business classrooms, and this remains our goal today.”
The university also responded to the news source, saying that the officials are glad the issue with the federal government is resolved and sent a copy of the recently signed agreement.
The resolution requires the Ohio State to inform the federal government of which organizations engage in the DEI practices, submit a report to the federal government that indicates the university formally canceled any partnership with these kinds of organizations, and allow the officials from the Department of Education to visit the campus to verify that the university is following the law.
In addition to signing the agreement, the Ohio State University confirmed to The Columbus Dispatch that it told its police officers to temporarily begin patrolling the building on campus where one of the university professors allegedly attacked an independent journalist recently.
Luke Perez, an assistant professor affiliated with Ohio State’s Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, was placed on leave on Feb. 10 and was later charged with assault after the alleged assault of a Columbus filmmaker, Mike Newman.
Ohio State spokesperson Ben Johnson told The Dispatch that the police officers have been patrolling since last week “due to the class’s upcoming speakers,” among whom are Bishop Earl Fernandes, Rabbi Lewis Kamrass, former Republican U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, state Rep. Beryl Brown Piccolantonio, D-Gahanna, and Ohio Supreme Court Justice Melody Stewart.
“This is a temporary measure. OSUPD will help determine the most appropriate public safety approach, as they would with any campus unit,” Johnson told the news outlet, adding that even though the police presence is not directly related to Perez’s recent alleged attack, it doesn’t mean that the professor is removed from administrative leave and the university stopped its investigation.
