Colleges, Act Now! New Ohio Law Contains Multiple New Requirements Addressing Harassment and Intimidation

On July 24, Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law the Campus Accountability and Modernization to Protect University Students (CAMPUS) Act, which requires public and private higher education institutions to adopt and enforce policies on racial, religious, and ethnic harassment and intimidation. According to lawmakers, the law came in response to a reported rise in antisemitic incidents on college campuses since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Several requirements of the law are applicable to private higher education institutions, including training for administration, establishing procedures for investigating complaints, and collaboration between campus police and local law enforcement, to name just a few.

The numerous protests and activities on campuses throughout the nation revolving around the Israel-Hamas war have been widely reported since last fall. Campuses have been on heightened alert, and the ways in which institutions of higher education handle these types of situations have been brought to the forefront and scrutinized.

Ohio’s new CAMPUS Act is aimed at standardizing how campuses handle certain actions against students or faculty, as well as making sure institutions have the tools and resources to properly respond. Private higher education institutions need to be aware of the following key provisions in the law that will be applicable to them:

• Training is required for all institution administration, faculty, and staff, which must include information on how to immediately respond to hate incidents or incidents of harassment that occur during a class or event held at the institution. This may be online training.
• A procedure must be established for accepting and investigating student complaints and allegations of racial, religious, or ethnic harassment or intimidation against any student, staff, or faculty member. The procedure must include:
  • An option to submit complaints and report threats anonymously
  • Potential disciplinary actions that may be taken after an investigation is conducted
  • At the conclusion of an investigation, any mandatory communications (regardless of whether disciplinary action is taken), which may include educational information on the institution’s policy against racial, religious, and ethnic harassment and intimidation
• To the extent possible, each institution must ensure that its campus security and police department collaborate with local law enforcement, the state highway patrol, and student communities to provide security functions for institutionally sanctioned student organizations that face threats of terror attacks or hate crimes.
• A campus task force must be created to focus on combating antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Christian discrimination, as well as hatred, harassment, bullying, or violence toward others on the basis of their actual or assumed religious identity.
• Policies on time, place, and manner restrictions on expressive activities must be adopted and published on the institution’s website.
• Hate incident metrics must be tracked and an annual report on all harassment and intimidation incidents submitted to the chancellor – consistent with Clery reporting.

The law also provides for several grant programs of up to $4 million to increase student safety, create a campus security program, and establish a campus community program.

The law specifies that if there is a conflict between this Ohio statute and the U.S. Constitution or any other federal law applicable to nonprofit institutions of higher education, the other law prevails. In other words, the CAMPUS Act cannot be used to diminish or infringe on any First Amendment rights.

The new statute did not provide a specific deadline for higher education institutions to be in compliance; however, laws in Ohio are effective on the 91st day after they have been filed with the secretary of state. According to the Ohio Legislature’s website, the effective date of the bill is October 24.kait

Therefore, with students and faculty arriving on campus and the busy start of school, it is recommended that AICUO member institutions begin implementing the requirements in this law as soon as possible. Some institutions may already have these policies and procedures in place, but it is recommended that these be reviewed and revised in light of the CAMPUS Act’s new requirements. Please contact the Steptoe & Johnson Higher Education Team – Ohio for any questions related to this new Ohio law.