Julia Garrison
News Editor
President Anne McCall addressed the campus community in an email sent out on Jan. 30 and addressed three key points of change that have come with a new government and presidential administration. McCall discussed the Protect All Students Act (SB 104), immigration policy and executive orders that affect Wooster.
McCall first discussed Ohio’s Protect All Students Act (SB 104). The bill, which was signed into law on Nov. 26, 2024, prohibits the existence of multiple-occupancy all-gender bathrooms at primary, secondary and higher education institutions in the state of Ohio. The bill specifies that any school, including The College of Wooster, cannot continue to maintain facilities across campus that are “designated as nongendered, multigendered, or open to all genders.” All single-occupancy restrooms should be renamed from “all-gender restroom” to “family facility,” according to the bill. The only exceptions to the rule are for children under 10 accompanied by a parent, a disabled person who requires assistance, a school employee whose job duties align with entering a restroom outside of their sex and for emergencies. The law will be enacted on Feb. 25.
McCall stated that within the next week, staff members will be visiting various buildings across campus to verify or correct that bathroom signage is in compliance with the wording of SB 104. She also noted that with the renovation of multiple buildings across campus, more single-occupancy bathrooms will be built.
McCall also included information about new immigration policies under President Donald Trump. McCall explained that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) may visit campus at some point and advised international students and employees to have a hard copy of their I-94 documentation on hand, along with their passports or visas.
Angila Tracey, secretary of the College and director of administration for the President’s office, sent a follow-up to McCall’s message on Jan. 31 that outlined guidelines for interacting with law enforcement, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), ICE, state troopers or local police. Tracey advised that if any member of law enforcement appears on College property, “students, faculty, and staff should always remain calm and, if approached, ask for proper identification, inquire as to the purpose of the visit, and then contact Angila Tracey, Secretary of the College.” Tracey can be reached by phone: (330) 263-2360 or by email: atracey@wooster.edu.
Tracey also noted that if law enforcement has an administrative or judicial warrant, campus community members should direct them to Campus Safety.
“Federal and State laws require the College and its employees to respect employee and student privacy,” Tracey said in her message. “If you are asked for information on any member of our campus community, please direct the person requesting the information to me.”
In her email, McCall also discussed executive order 14173, titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” which Trump signed on Jan. 21. The executive order outlines how higher education institutions use “dangerous, demeaning, and immoral race-and sex-based preferences under the guise of so-called “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) or “diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility” (DEIA) that can violate the civil-rights laws of this Nation.”
The executive order describes inclusivity programs as “illegal,” and unfairly discriminatory against individual achievement “in favor of an unlawful, corrosive, and pernicious identity-based spoils system.” The executive order also states that all American citizens deserve a “shot at the American Dream,” and asserts that citizens cannot do so if they are “stigmatized, demeaned, or shut out of opportunities because of their race or sex.”
The policy associated with the executive order will “terminate all discriminatory and illegal preferences, mandates, policies, programs, activities, guidance, regulations, enforcement actions, consent orders, and requirements.” In addition, the order revokes a number of executive orders surrounding diversity initiatives, namely four enacted by Democratic administrations — one by former President Clinton and three by former President Obama.
Since Wooster as an institution receives federal funding, this executive order applies to the College. Both the Attorney General and the Secretary of Education will issue guidance to colleges like Wooster in the next few months on how to proceed.
“Over the coming weeks and months, our community will have opportunities and the need to discuss emerging issues and changes together,” McCall said at the end of her message. “And as always, I look forward to hearing thoughts, concerns, and ideas that you may want to share with me directly.”
