College Fix Notes AIM’s Role in Ohio State DEI Complaint
September 8, 2026
The only OSU professor accused under Ohio’s ‘intellectual diversity’ law was cleared. Here’s why.
Posted on September 8, 2026 | By Jennifer Kabbany
Ohio State University Professor Steven Brown is no stranger to making headlines.
In 2013, he was feted for developing a project to help donations flow to poverty-stricken countries. In 2023, he was touted for earning OSU’s Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching.
A faculty member for 22 years, most ratings and reviews from students on Coursicle and Rate My Professor sing his praises, describing him as energetic, enthusiastic, and engaged.
Yet, more recently, Professor Brown earned a new achievement.
He was the only professor during the 2025-26 school year to be reported to administrators under the state’s one-year-old law restricting diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education.
Senate Bill 1, passed last year, allows students to file complaints if they feel their intellectual diversity rights have been violated, and universities are required to investigate.
The only other complaint filed during the school year flagged Melissa Newhouse, an executive assistant in the College of Education and Human Ecology, who was surreptitiously recorded by the activism group Accuracy in Media saying DEI is still taught at the school despite SB 1.
Newhouse was cleared, as she is only a staff member and not in charge of curriculum, according to documents obtained by The College Fix.