One glossy insert stuck out from the orientation packet handed to hundreds of Ohio State University freshmen last August. It advertised a tempting offer: students could earn a $4,000 scholarship – close to a third off in-state tuition – if they enrolled in one civics-oriented course and attended three events each semester outside of class.
It seemed straightforward, but missing in the fine print was the controversial nature of the center giving the scholarships, sponsoring the lectures and crafting the new courses. It was the Salmon P Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society, created by Ohio’s Republican-dominated legislature with the explicit goal of enticing students to take courses taught by a newly hired group of conservative philosophers, political scientists and historians.
Housed in one of Ohio State’s sturdy brick buildings, the center has 20 faculty members teaching nine credit-bearing courses this academic year. Most of its lectures and other events have a decidedly right-leaning bent. In 2023, Ohio state legislators allocated $24m in tax dollars to create the Chase Center and four others like it on Ohio campuses and to influence the details of university operations in a manner that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.