Few state statutes enacted by our august Ohio General Assembly in recent decades have generated as much thunderous uproar and caustic debate as Senate Bill 1, signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine in late March.

That legislation, which has been drafted, debated and revised over two long years, essentially overhauls higher education policy for the state’s network of 14 public universities and 23 community colleges.

Though relatively short in length at 28 pages, SB1 — formally known as the Advance Ohio Higher Education Act — is long on new mandates with dozens of contentious rules and regulations set to take legal effect Friday.

A few of the changes the legislation requires include:

• Ending diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies and programs.

• Requiring a three-credit American civics course with specific mandated readings for all students.

• Ending faculty rights to strike when reaching prolonged stalemates in contract negotiations.

• Discouraging classroom discussions on “any controversial belief or policy.”

• Requiring all instructors to post detailed course syllabi on class content for the world to see.

In response to the division created by these and other significant higher education protocols in SB1, a group of Youngstown State University professors has spearheaded a statewide movement to place SB1 on the Nov. 4 general election ballot as a popular referendum for voters to approve or reject. Until and unless that referendum would fail, all of SB1’s provisions would be placed on hold.

Though we at this newspaper neither blanketly support nor vehemently oppose SB1– at least not yet — we do agree with petition organizers who argue that given the colossal scope and potentially monumental impact of the legislation, all eligible Ohio voters should be afforded the right to their legitimate say on it.

Toward that end, we wish referendum leaders well in the final days of their mission to gather the needed 250,000 signatures statewide to place the question of repeal on the fall ballot.

On its surface, the controversial legislation comes off as a highly partisan hot potato. After all, only a small handful of the supermajority of Republicans in the state Senate and House of Representatives voted “no” on SB1, and not one single Democrat in either chamber voted “yes.” (State Rep. Lauren McNally, D-Youngstown, did not vote on the measure, according to the Ohio Legislative Services Commission, but she has publicly opposed the bill.)

It is not surprising, then, that rhetoric on the bill, which was sponsored by state Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, and co-sponsored by Sens. Al Cutrona, R-Canfield, and Sandra O’Brien, R-Ashtabula, has been hot and heavy.

Cirino, for example, in an address to the Cleveland City Club, chided some critics of the bill by rhetorically asking how can a bill “that calls for color blindness be considered racist?”

Bill Johnson, YSU president and former Republican congressman, said, “YSU’s interpretation of SB1 is that it strengthens freedom of speech and encourages robust discussion of divisive — and sometimes controversial — perspectives both inside and outside the classroom.”

On the other side of the aisle, state Sen. Casey Weinstein, D-Hudson, a vocal opponent of SB1, calls the measure “a direct attack on the academic independence that has long been essential to the success of our state’s public education system.”

Given today’s hyperpartisan-charged political climate, such divisiveness comes as no surprise. But we nonetheless would hope that if the referendum does make its way to the ballot that voters will not act hastefully and carelessly by voting by political party allegiance alone. Rather, they should use those nearly five months before Election Day to fully and objectively study what they personally view as the assets and liabilities of the legislation.

For that to happen, however, time’s a-wastin’. Referendum organizers are completing their petition campaign this weekend. Go online to https://ohsb1petition.com/ to find a list of sites to physically sign the referendum documents Saturday and Sunday. No online petition is available or legal.

Campaign organizers plan to submit them Wednesday to the Ohio Secretary of State Office, where a decision on their validity and the referendum will be forthcoming.

Therefore, concerned Valley residents have little time left to support this legitimate referendum campaign. Remember, your signature does not necessarily affirm your support for repeal; it merely signifies your support for a statewide popular vote on the measure. To be sure, it is the people — not the politicians — who should wield the power of deciding the fate of SB1 and of steering the future of higher education in our great state.