Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued a statement about his higher education agenda. He intends to expunge all references to or studies of diversity, equity, inclusion and “critical race theory,” the study of institutionalized racism from the curriculum of the state’s colleges and universities. He also wants to place the hiring of new faculty in the hands of college presidents and boards of trustees, whom he controls. The hiring of new faculty typically is in the hands of the faculty, not the president or the board of trustees.
DeSantis claims that he is furthering “civil discourse and intellectual freedom” by suppressing the ideas he disagrees with. He believes that the only studies that belong on a college campus are the achievements and thoughts of white men.
He has flipped the script, accusing those who defend the freedom to teach and learn of “suppressing” free thought. It is he who is suppressing intellectual freedom.
In Florida, faculty are free to express Governor DeSantis’ views. They are not free to express dissent from the party line. That is not freedom.
Ron DeSantis is the ultimate arbiter of truth in Florida. None dare challenge him if they teach in a public school, college, or university. There’s a word for this ideology: fascism.
“Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced legislation for the 2023 Session to further elevate civil discourse and intellectual freedom in higher education, further pushing back against the tactics of liberal elites who suppress free thought in the name of identity politics and indoctrination. Among its many provisions, the legislation will ensure Florida’s public universities and colleges are grounded in the history and philosophy of Western Civilization; prohibit DEI, CRT (CRITICAL RACE THEORY), and other discriminatory programs and barriers to learning; and course correct universities’ missions to align education for citizenship of the constitutional republic and Florida’s existing and emerging workforce needs.”
“In Florida, we will build off of our higher education reforms by aligning core curriculum to the values of liberty and the Western tradition, eliminating politicized bureaucracies like DEI, increasing the amount of research dollars for programs that will feed key industries with talented Florida students, and empowering presidents and boards of trustees to recruit and hire new faculty, including by dedicating record resources for faculty salaries,” said Governor Ron DeSantis.
“This 2023 legislative proposal builds on reforms made during the 2022 Legislative Session through Senate Bill 7044 to dismantle accreditation agency monopolies, increase tenured faculty accountability, and make the transition between a Florida state college and university more seamless. Specifically, the 2023 proposal raises the standards of learning and civil discourse of public higher education in Florida by:
Requiring the State University System Board of Governors (BOG) and State Board of Education (SBOE) to review and realign general education core courses to make sure they provide historically accurate, foundational and career relevant education, not suppress or distort significant historical events or include a curriculum that teaches identity politics;
Prohibiting higher education institutions from using any funding, regardless of source, to support DEI, CRT, and other discriminatory initiatives;
Requiring institutions’ presidents and boards of trustees to take ownership of hiring and retention decisions, without interference from unions and faculty committees;
Allowing institutions’ presidents and boards of trustees to conduct a post-tenure review of a faculty member at any time with cause;
Prohibiting postsecondary institutions from using discriminatory political filters, including political loyalty oaths and DEI statements, in the hiring process.”
“Requiring preeminent state research universities to include annual research expenditures of $50 million or more for STEM-related occupations, businesses, or industry partners in Florida that are employing Florida residents;
Requiring the Board of Governors (BOG) to align universities’ missions to education for citizenship of the constitutional republic and Florida’s existing and emerging workforce needs;
Providing additional responsibilities and clarifications for FSU’s Florida Institute of Politics, including renaming it the Florida Institute for Governance and Civics; and Providing additional responsibilities and clarifications for FIU’s Adam Smith Center for the Study of Economic Freedom.”
The New York Times reported on DeSantis’s aggressive attack on higher education as part of his cynical use of culture war tactics, which build his base nationally.
The DeSantis-controlled board of New College fired its president, English professor Patricia Okker, who was appointed in 2021.
While expressing her love for both the college and its students, Dr. Okker called the move a hostile takeover. “I do not believe that students are being indoctrinated here at New College,” she said. “They are taught, they read Marx and they argue with Marx. They take world religions, they do not become Buddhists in February and turn into Christians in March.”
Governor DeSantis also announced on Tuesday that he had asked the Legislature to immediately free up $15 million to recruit new faculty and provide scholarships for New College….
The shake-up of New College, which also included the election of a new board chairwoman, may be ongoing and dramatic, given the new six board members appointed by Mr. DeSantis.
They include Christopher Rufo, a senior fellow at Manhattan Institute who is known for his vigorous attacks on “critical race theory,” an academic concept that historical patterns of racism are ingrained in law and other modern institutions.
At the time of his appointment, Mr. Rufo, who lives and works in Washington State, tweeted that he was “recapturing” higher education.
Another new board member is Eddie Speir, who runs a Christian private school in Florida. He had recommended in a Substack posting before the meeting that the contracts of all the school’s faculty and staff be canceled.
The other new appointees include Matthew Spalding, dean of the Washington, D.C., campus of Hillsdale College, a private college in Michigan known for its conservative and Christian orientations. An aide to the governor has said that Hillsdale, which says it offers a classical education, is widely regarded as the governor’s model for remaking New College.
In addition to the governor’s six new appointees, the university system’s board of governors recently named a seventh member, Ryan T. Anderson, the head of a conservative think tank, the Ethics and Public Policy Center, which applies the Judeo-Christian tradition to contemporary questions of law, culture, and politics. His selection was viewed as giving Mr. DeSantis a majority vote on the 13-member board.
The plan seems clear: Fire faculty who teach “identity” courses or anything “woke,” drive away the students, who wanted the progressive approach that New College offered, and turn the college into the Florida branch of Hillsdale College.
You realize Ron DeSantis isn’t some sort of evil villain right? He’s a politician… Not idealistically any different than the politicians you idolize on the left… He has his ideas, he has his worldview, and he has support from his many constituents who what him to do what he is doing with education.
Not really. If it quacks like a fascist….
No shortage of racists, fascists and Christian Nationalist Fascists who support DeSantis as their leader. As there was no shortage of the same in places like Spain , Germany and Italy… in the last century. Or Russia and Hungary… in this century.
Sorry but the Radical Left is radical for calling for Medicare for all or raising the minimum wage to a living wage. Or voting rights for all.
They don’t force the likes of Matt Schlapp to assault a young Male campaign aide. Nor Hershel Walker and countless other right wing deviates and hypocrites to send their girl friends for abortions.
The Radical Right wants insurrection and authoritarianism. And a seat in your bedroom.
Losing an election to them is not a legitimate reason for surrendering control.
The only thing wrong with your both sides narrative is everything.
Whatever Democrats do in 2024, if they face off against DeSantis, they shouldn’t be timid about using the “f” word that aligns him with Mussolini, Hitler, or Orban to describe him.
retired teacher
Agreed
The strongest show of fascism I’ve seen in my lifetime is the cult like adherence to scientifically unfounded beliefs in paper and cloth masks, and obsessive addiction to testing (global COVID-19 diagnostics market size was valued at USD 97.4 billion in 2021) and an experimental over-hyped jab that failed to end a political/synthetic pandemic and then outright fascistic and dogmatic totalitarian+systematic silencing to any opposition who spoke out against Pfizer and the pharmaceutical industry.
^ The literal definition of fascism especially considering our USA government institutions such as FDA and CDC are happily working together with the Gates foundation and the pharmaceutical industry, etc, etc to rollout more and more fascistic institutionalization and mindless control over your lives.
Talk about worshiping multi-national corporations… The amount of faith you people put into these institutions who happily rob you year-in-year-out and make you into some sort of mindless fascist machine and you don’t even see it…
I disagree.
I am fully vaccinated and boosted.
When I got COVID over Xmas, it was a mild case that did not require hospitalization. The data is clear: those who are vaccinated are less likely to get COVID and less likely to be hospitalized or die.
Those without vaccination suffer higher death rates.
You anti-vaxxers are beyond my understanding.
Do you allow your children to be vaccinated for polio, measles, smallpox, mumps, diphtheria, etc? In most states, the kids can’t attend schools without proof of vaccination.
I haven’t had a single covid jab and neither anyone in my house/family. None of us ever got sick with anything other than standard influenza symptoms over the past 3 years. And in fact we haven’t taken a single covid test either…. We are all fully vaccinated otherwise just not with mRNA experimental toxins.
Support that, please, with some facts. And valid sources.
“Support that, please, with some facts. And valid sources”
Support my subjective experience with valid sources? These are the facts, I am the source. Or maybe you meant to comment on someone else’s response…
You referred to mRNA vaccines as “experimental toxins”. That’s an assertion of fact.
So back it up. Pro tip: The alleged experience of you and your family is anecdote, not data.
The vaccines are no longer experimental.
Hard to know where to start. There’s so much ignorance here. And privilege.
Lockdowns and mandatory vaccination are standard mitigation and life-saving measures, and have been for many, many years. In the U.S., the Supreme Court upheld mandatory vaccination in 1905. And George Washington required all soldiers in the Continental Army to be inoculated against disease. The belief that you have the right to infect your fellow citizens with a potentially fatal disease because FREEDOM! is not one any country recognizes. If you want to risk your life, kindly find a desert island and risk it there. I still have some living to do. We lost 1.5 million people to COVID. We still lose about 500 per day.
And you insult the memory of the millions who died under the grip of actual fascism in World War II. Which I doubt you would have survived for more than a couple of minutes.
What a snowflake.
Well said. DeSantis wants what Hitler had & Orban has- total control. His actions speak for themselves.
Oy! Not enough time in the day to respond to idiocy like this. Even scarier when you realize he speaks for at least 45% of today’s electorate.
What they don’t understand is that he’s not your average politician working within the give-and-take of a constitutional democratic republic. He and the others they idolize can only tell lies–so often that they seem to actually believe them–to destroy the current system of governing. If they don’t like the results of elections they can’t rig, they change the post-election rules. If they don’t like “the libs” and their ideas, then a wholesale change of the system while whining and lying that it is the same system is needed.
In the final “elections” held in Germany in November 1934, voters were given a ballot with two choices, to abolish their system officially while keeping the framework, or keep it. They were given a sheet of paper with two large boxes to check, with a finger pointing to one next to: vote yes here. Each sheet had to be given to the poll worker, printed side up, with party thugs standing behind them taking note of who dissented. Even with that, with a 90% majority that Goebbels called a disgrace, 10% either voted no or submitted an empty ballot. Those 10% were marked for life. The others got in line quickly. That’s the world this idiot, the Idiot, and idiots like them are foisting upon us.
@dianeravitch
“The vaccines are no longer experimental.”
Right and you willingly went along as a participant in the experiment while is was under emergency approval…
Also you avoided addressing your reckless use of anectodtal evidence to justify your belief in the mRNA jabs…
Also just to be clear, if the mainstream vaccine would have been an attenuated protein based traditional vaccine like literally every single vaccine my family has had I would have taken it.
Sorry not antivax even though you guys love to recklessly and brazenly through that term around at everyone who takes and objective and critical stance on the ethical violations that were thrown on humanity in this epic sized experiment.
Your problem is that the facts are against you. Were the vaccines experimental? Well, sure. So they conducted controlled testing, validated their efficacy, determined that they were safe, and authorized them. At that point they were not “experimental”.
That is how these things work, via the scientific method. This is how science works. You don’t seem to understand this at all. This is what I see from online conservatives, over and over again, a total ignorance of reality.
This is on display, as well, when modern conservatives talk about the FBI. Anyone who has worked in law enforcement knows that conservative claims of “Democratic” or “Liberal” bias in the FBI are total bullshit. I worked in law enforcement for many years, and there was no agency that was more “law and order” than the FBI. But because the Republican Party saw an advantage in slandering the FBI to screw with “the Left” (and immunize themselves from sanction for habitual felonious behavior), we are treated to preposterous claims of a liberal bias in federal law enforcement. It’s like being informed that Rush Limbaugh was in truth a flaming lefty playing a double game.
Pull the other one, mate. It’s got bells on it. Conservatives can’t continue to pull convenient 180s and be taken seriously. At some point, reality sets in. Or you go insane.
And that’s not far off.
Congrats on being the first to respond!
2 days.
Or is it a solo shot?
It’s always a group circle jerk.
You realize Adolf Hitler isn’t some sort of evil villain right? He’s a politician … Not idealistically any different than the politicians you idolize on the left … He has his ideas, he has his worldview, and he has support from his many constituents who what him to do what he is doing with …
Yes, he is evil.
Control universities – appoint those who agree with him leadership and professors – fire those not. Ban courses and books. Declare teacher violations for using books and language. Target those who are “diverse” – race, gender, sexual orientation. Scapegoat (trans boy in sports). Depress voting. A “well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State”
1933 redux.
OK, do yes, this is dumb and beneath contempt. But think about it for a moment: this is an apparent right-winger preaching moral, intellectual, and political relativism. Isn’t that a little off-brand for someone like acjohnson1985?
The irony would be a thing to behold if this weren’t, again, so dumb.
For the sake of argument, let’s say that DEI activities at the college level are worth doing. But the question remains: what does the mass of DEI staffers collectively do all day? A few months ago I saw a chart that showed the numbers of DEI staff at several universities. The highest total was 175 at UC-Berkeley, with several others 100+. I know there are various federal regulations that must be complied with, so some paid staff are needed there. But 100+? That strikes me as doing the same thing as occurs in most other large bureaucracies, public and private sectors: keep growing and find ways to justify your employment, even when your actual day-to-day work has little to no value.
This, ladies and gentleman, passes for “logic” that leads to “conclusions” among the cult.
I didn’t take a position for or against DEI. I simply raised the issue of whether the DEI bureaucracies are way overstaffed. Are you capable of answering a question without resorting to the personal attacks that are a staple of this blog?
You offer only slanted conjecture based on a preconceived conclusion. It is intended to connect issues that have nothing to do with each other. You do not explain how you came to the conclusion “keep growing and find ways to justify your employment, even when your actual day-to-day work has little to no value.” You implicitly take a position by accepting false information and conclusions as valid.
Is that de-personalized enough for you?
It’s a solo shot!
I have seen political Twitter accounts by liberals who are Black have criticize DEI. But I don’t think they are arguing for getting rid of it DeSantis style. They are arguing for making it better and more effective.
I don’t know enough about the topic and how it’s used in college settings to have a big opinion about it.
Desantis is obviously a proponent of Mussolini’s “great man” ideology where he believes he knows better than anyone else what is good for the rest of us. Yet, this is not really his motivation. He doesn’t push his political agenda so that people will believe as he believes, but because those beliefs make the general populace vulnerable to his dominance. Although his former bosom buddy, “disgraced twice impeached ex president,” taught Desantis that “he alone can fix it”, this is a about raw power not persuasion. Desantis has access to a state legislature that is completely neutered and subservient. Desantis wants to be king and knows that intimidating and squashing descent is the only means to that end. It is ironic that the closest contemporary leader effectively modeling this dominance is Xi Jinping of China. Far from an advocate for Western Civilization.
I have indeed seen this movie before. It reminds me of the Bush-Obama administration: “to dismantle accreditation agency monopolies, increase tenured faculty accountability, and make the transition between a Florida state college and university more seamless. Specifically, the 2023 proposal raises the standards of learning.” It is fascist, and it is embraced by corporate donors who want a more docile, subservient labor pool.
DeSantis and his ilk want to suppress free thought and knowledge about the world and replace the liberal arts with regressive, Western-centric studies and “career and workplace” readiness. Less educated people are easier to control.
#TodaysAcronym ☞ #NOEDSI
#NoOneExpectsDeSantisInquisition
DEI bureaucracies?
Please define that. Have you looked it up.
The website is filled with activities, resources, seminars, and yes, courses, research, community building and rigorous intellectual academic pursuits.
What are those positions at UC Berkeley.
With the College Board’s AP course revisions caving to this evil governor (yes, to the comment above, he IS evil) this is intellectual cleansing.
And, it’s BERKELEY. I would expect nothing less.
Do you mean ‘strangle’ it?
So are they going to change degrees in Liberal Arts to Conservative Arts?
I know a lot of conservative farts, but an unaware of a single example of the conservative arts other than lying constantly.
Little people like Rufo are always there to support the martinets like DeSantis. I guess we have to relearn the lessons of the 1930s and 1940s. Let’s not let this get so far this time.
History determines who has which role, not contemporary views. On Jan 29, 1933, the majority of Germans involved with government thought Schleicher and Papen controlled Hitler and few remember them.
OMG
Do you think we have secret meetings with a secret handshake and all.
Maybe it was just a play on words “… conservative arts” – but on the subject of liberal arts (or subjects (courses) of liberal arts and the subjects (learners) of liberal arts)
Liberal Arts comes out of the Latin term and Greek history.
Here’s Merriam-Webster since whatever many of us here say is never actually heard.
Why do we call the liberal arts “liberal”?
“The liberal in liberal arts, a cornerstone of the education of so many, has very little to do with political leanings; its roots can be traced to the Latin word liber, meaning “free, unrestricted.” Our language took the term from the Latin liberales artes, which described the education given to freeman and members of the upper classes, and involved training in the mind (grammar, logic, geometry, etc.). The lower classes were educated in the servile arts, which were mechanical or occupational in nature. The phrase liberal arts has been part of our language for a very long time, with use dating back to the 14th century.”
Liberal arts – unlike other countries, in the U.S. where every student gets an education and is not put into life paths – where every student is expected to read some “classics,” to become familiar with artistic and musical masterpieces, know a little trivia, learn to and be allowed to think (instead of being told what to think) and so on.
I’m really glad someone said this, Wait, What.
Every time I read more evidence of Dangerously Deranged DeSantis’s fascist racism, I think of what happened to George Wallace, another foaming at the mouth white racist.
“How a Failed Assassination Attempt Pushed George Wallace to Reconsider His Segregationist Views
“Fifty years ago, a fame-seeker shot the polarizing politician five times, paralyzing him from the waist down”
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-a-failed-assassination-attempt-pushed-george-wallace-to-reconsider-his-segregationist-views-180980063/
Will history repeat itself or will DeSantis’s fascist racism prevail?
DeSantis ain’t George Corley Wallace. Wallace was never in danger of becoming president.
George Wallace was an ignorant racist. DeSantis is a highly educated racist. He went to Catholic schools, Yale, Harvard Law School.
I used an RSS app for blogs I read, and I have 4-5 blogs dubbed as “Education.” I am quite tired of coming home and seeing negative story after story about Florida.
I can’t stand what has become of this state. Other states like California, Michigan, Illinois (already doing it with the AP African-American Studies course), and New York really need to up their media releases of contrasting measures to show how backward things have become here.
FL,
At some point, I thought I was writing too much about Florida, but then I realized there is no other state whose governor has made public education K-16 the target of his bigotry and white supremacy.
It’s Biden catering to the black supremacists. How many more classified documents does he have now?
Harry,
Biden had 20-24 documents and his lawyers turned them over to the National Archives at once.
Trump had over 300 classified documents and he fought not to turn them over. First, he said they were “planted” by the FBI. Then, he said he declassified them in his head. Then, he went court and fought not to release them. Then, he demanded a special master. Then the special master project was thrown out by federal courts.
You like lies.
It has also been posited that the real move here is to grab the valuable parcel of land on which the college sits. Destroy enrollment, shut it down, no need for a college any more, surely one of Ron’s developer buddies would pay top dollar for what is prime real estate right on Sarasota Bay.
I’m here boots on the ground, and there are a lot of pissed parents in Sarasota. They’re angry with the school board and they’re angry with DeSantis. These are not “woke” people by any stretch. They are business owners, voters, and parents. They lean conservative. This isn’t as well-received even here. I can’t think this will win over Independents. Gen Z hates Ron. Let’s pin our hopes on them coming out and saving us in 2024.
It helps when people like you who are closer to the action can clarify the situation.
If they don’t like DeSantis, they can move to California. Newsome has plenty space for more tents.
Censoring me again Diane? Just like the nazis in 1930’s Germany, North Korea, old USSR, etc. controlling the media, brainwashing children,,,,that’s what those dictatorships did.
Harry, I can kick you off this blog whenever I want. I am not the government. This is a private space. I do not welcome liars, idiots, or fools to my living room.