Indiana lawmakers send GOP bill targeting tenure to governor’s desk

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Republican lawmakers in Indiana granted final approval Thursday to a bill that would impose new regulations on tenure for faculty at public colleges and universities.

The bill now heads to Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb’s desk. The proposal mirrors conservative-led efforts in other states to influence higher education they view as unfriendly or hostile to conservative students and professors.

State senators voted 33-12, largely along party lines, to concur on the bill Thursday evening.

Indiana’s measure is less definitive than others. It would establish a post-tenure review process to be conducted every five years and create a policy preventing faculty from gaining tenure or promotions if they are “unlikely to foster a culture of free inquiry, free expression and intellectual diversity within the institution.”

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Opponents at colleges say it would effectively do away with tenure, a coveted status ensuring employment that can be terminated only under specific circumstances. The practice has