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You are here: Home / Politics / Education / Florida Republicans are destroying the state’s flagship university

Florida Republicans are destroying the state’s flagship university

by Betty Cracker|  December 7, 202110:00 am| 66 Comments

This post is in: Education, Open Threads

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Man, and I thought this academic year would be personally notable mostly for my alma mater’s terrible, horrible, no-good football season. A new report from The Tampa Bay Times:

UF researchers felt pressure to destroy COVID-19 data, faculty report says
Faculty Senate panel alleges more violations of academic freedom. Says staff was told not to contradict state on pandemic issues.

Fear of upsetting state officials is pervasive among faculty at the University of Florida, to the point that race-related references have been edited out of course materials and researchers felt pressure to destroy COVID-19 data, according to a report released Monday by a Faculty Senate committee.

The six-person panel was convened three weeks ago to investigate academic freedom issues after the university decided to bar three political science professors from testifying in a lawsuit against the state. But its findings go well beyond that episode and were so disturbing — especially regarding COVID-19 research — that the group decided to speed up its work, said Danaya Wright, a constitutional law professor and former Faculty Senate chairperson who served on the committee…

The report further states that UF employees were told “not to criticize the Governor of Florida or UF policies related to COVID-19 in media interactions.” It says they were told not to use their UF titles or affiliation in written commentary or to give oral presentations. And faculty at UF Health expressed concerns over funding being in jeopardy if they did not adopt the state’s stance on pandemic regulations in opinion articles, the report says.

Last month in this space, we discussed how DeSantis and the wingnut supermajority statehouse had cowed the university to the point that it wasn’t allowing professors to testify as experts in legal proceedings about voter suppression laws or the governor’s dumb and destructive crusade against mask mandates in schools.

A week ago, The Independent Florida Alligator (UF student newspaper) reported on a rather broad effect of CRT panic at the university, where you’d think administrators could trust graduate students not to become whitey haters via exposure to a framework for intellectual inquiry, but nah:

A UF professor filed a grievance over UF’s hesitancy to create a concentration that included the words “critical” and “race,” adding to the ongoing challenges to academic freedom at the institution…

Professors attempted to get a concentration titled “Critical Study of Race, Ethnicity, and Culture in Education” approved, but UF’s administration denied the proposition.

The grievance stated the faculty was told in a meeting Oct. 18 that the graduate school would not approve any course with the words “critical” and “race” in the title. Administration asked for the course to be changed to something less offensive to the Florida legislature, the grievance read.

This is, or at least should be, an embarrassment to every current and former UF student and faculty member. The spineless president of the university, Kent Fuchs, is dithering around with task forces when he should be publicly telling the governor and legislature to back the fuck up.

Meanwhile, the real power at UF, Board of Trustees Chairman Mori Hosseini (coincidentally a DeSantis megadonor), is fuming about all the negative attention, which means the faculty union is doing its job:

“To this I say enough,” Hosseini said. “This behavior is unacceptable. It is disrespectful….This will not stand. It must stop and it will stop. If you allow something to happen, that means you condone it. Let me tell you, our legislators are not going to put up with the wasting of state money and resources, and neither will this board. And we shouldn’t…”

Hosseini also praised Florida House Speaker Chris Sprowls, Senate President Wilton Simpson and Gov. Ron DeSantis for their support of the university. He took issue with the notion that UF’s decisions regarding the three professors were the result of political pressure.

To that I say, bull-fucking-shit. Hosseini is not only a major FL GOP donor, he co-chaired DeSantis’s transition team (along with as yet unindicted pervert Matt Gaetz) and flies the governor’s wife to events on his private jet.

Hosseini also foisted our new kook of a surgeon general on the state and the University of Florida, importing the crackpot from UCLA to spread dumb pandemic conspiracy theories and terrible medical advice for the princely sum of $500K per year. The whole arrangement is corrupt as fuck.

UF recently obtained a top 5 ranking among public universities, and they were damn proud of it. I don’t know how academia works, but I suspect top scholars have already started to avoid a university that is run like the Hazzard County sheriff’s office.

Sadly, there’s no one to step in and clean up this mess because there’s a Republican fox guarding every entry point to the UF henhouse. But I know the faculty union will keep squawking.

Open thread.

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Reader Interactions

66Comments

  1. 1.

    germy

    December 7, 2021 at 10:04 am

    “To this I say enough”

    New rotating tag?

  2. 2.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 7, 2021 at 10:05 am

    The only thing missing from your republic is the bananas.

  3. 3.

    Another Scott

    December 7, 2021 at 10:09 am

    It’s good that they’re pushing back.  Thanks for highlighting this.

    Public universities are in an increasingly bad spot.  Actual public funding from their states have been dropping since 1980 or so (I think UVA gets something like 3% of its budget from Virginia), but they’re being increasingly politicized by politicians and state-appointed regents/governors/etc. who have little or no direct accountability.  That tiny bit of funding should not give them veto power over academic freedom, tenure decisions, and all the rest.

    Public education – including universities and post-graduate schools – is vitally important.  Saying, well UF and UVA should just go private and do their own thing isn’t an obvious solution.  Of course, the public, though their elected representatives, need to have some input.  But universities don’t work when they aren’t able to do work without political interference.    It’s dangerous.

    (sigh)

    Good luck!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  4. 4.

    WaterGirl

    December 7, 2021 at 10:10 am

    Fuck.

  5. 5.

    germy

    December 7, 2021 at 10:11 am

     (along with as yet unindicted pervert Matt Gaetz)

    I wonder how that particular saga ends.

  6. 6.

    Betty Cracker

    December 7, 2021 at 10:12 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: We have bananas! It’s not a major crop here like in the Central American countries so ruthlessly exploited by U.S. corporations, but I have banana trees in my yard!

  7. 7.

    rikyrah

    December 7, 2021 at 10:12 am

    Been knew that the numbers for COVID for Florida have been nothing but garbage.

  8. 8.

    japa21

    December 7, 2021 at 10:14 am

    If the faculty isn’t careful, Death Santis will send in his new brown shirts er storm troopers er special unit after them.

    I suspect top scholars have already started to avoid a university that is run like the Hazzard County sheriff’s office.

    That is, for Republicans, a positive not a negative.

  9. 9.

    J.

    December 7, 2021 at 10:17 am

    How do you really feel, Betty? And what happened to the threat of UF possibly losing accreditation?

    I get that UF is a “public” university, but it sounds more like Liberty and other private wingnut/zealot-controlled universities every day.

  10. 10.

    leeleeFL

    December 7, 2021 at 10:17 am

    Just amazing that even when I hadn’t actually seen evidence, I knew that Shithead and the rest of them were undermining UF faculty more than the Professors being prevented from testifying!

    Just hate this soooo much!

  11. 11.

    Kay

    December 7, 2021 at 10:21 am

    Kombiz Lavasany
    @kombiz
    The same people who were getting columnists and pundits to write endlessly about students protesting speakers and safe spaces are now banning books and banning words that can be taught in classes.
    And the pundits and columnists all ran out of ink.

    What an embarrasing panic they all signed onto. The thing was completely fucking incoherent and poorly thought through from the start. It was always going to end this way.
    I await Freddie DeBoer’s and Andrew Sullivan’s passionate defense of the 2nd grade teachers and underpaid community college contract employees who now have to deal with the fall out from their ridiculous panic. Talk about “privilege”. Oh, that’s right. I forgot. That’s banned.

  12. 12.

    TheTruffle

    December 7, 2021 at 10:24 am

    Where is the ACLU?

  13. 13.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 7, 2021 at 10:25 am

    @Betty Cracker: Heh, my bad.

  14. 14.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 7, 2021 at 10:27 am

    @TheTruffle: Fighting other battles?

  15. 15.

    Kay

    December 7, 2021 at 10:28 am

    Where’s the phony University of Free Speech they supposedly started with all the fancy, credentialed advisors?

    MIGHTY quiet. This must be Forbidden Knowlege. They remain blissfully unaware of the real-world effects of their (lucrative) crusade.

  16. 16.

    Immanentize

    December 7, 2021 at 10:34 am

    @TheTruffle: The really relevant question is “Where is Obi-Wan Kenobi?!”

    Ammirite?

  17. 17.

    Geminid

    December 7, 2021 at 10:36 am

    @Another Scott: U. Va. just lost as good a football coach as they’ll ever have because of donor meddling. Some big atheletic boosters thought it was time to bring in new defensive coaches, and the atheletic department went along. So head coach Bronco Mendenhall put his foot down and resigned last Thursday.

  18. 18.

    Kristine

    December 7, 2021 at 10:36 am

    USF-Tampa grad here. They also built their research rep since I graduated. I should dig and see how they’re doing.

  19. 19.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    December 7, 2021 at 10:37 am

    Tampa Bay Times via Betty Cracker @ Top:

    Fear of upsetting state officials is pervasive among faculty at the University of Florida, to the point that race-related references have been edited out of course materials and researchers felt pressure to destroy COVID-19 data, according to a report released Monday by a Faculty Senate committee.

    Well, if UF is feeling this pressure, then so is every other college in FL. Probably every school district too.

    Note to Parents: Don’t let your kids go to college in FL if you want them to get a real and honest education.

  20. 20.

    Barry

    December 7, 2021 at 10:44 am

     

    FIFY:

    @Kay: “What an <strike>embarrasing panic </strike> evil dishonest fraud they all signed onto. The thing was completely fucking incoherent and poorly thought through from the start. It was always going to end this way.”

  21. 21.

    James E Powell

    December 7, 2021 at 10:45 am

    @Lacuna Synecdoche:

    Which do you suppose is more important to most parents, a real and honest education or a credential that will enhance their children’s careers?

  22. 22.

    burnspbesq

    December 7, 2021 at 10:46 am

    Those rankings look strange to me. Do the service academies not count as “public?” And there’s no way UC Surf Bum should be rated ahead of Irvine or San Diego.

  23. 23.

    cain

    December 7, 2021 at 10:46 am

    Wow, way to destroy a university’s reputation. I wonder if they realize that people will just not go there if it is going to be under the thumb of govt. I find it ironic that anti-govt types are putting the political screws on a educational institution.

  24. 24.

    Geminid

    December 7, 2021 at 10:46 am

    @germy: Probably not well for Gaetz. Federal prosecutors asked the judge for more time before sentencing Greenburg, Gaetz’s wingman. The prosecutors got a new date next March, and then added experts to their team. Evidently there are new areas of Gaetz’s activities to be exploited.

    Also, the prosecutors want their case (or cases) to be airtight. Gaetz’s father has a ton of money and will hire the best available criminal defense lawyers.

  25. 25.

    RSA

    December 7, 2021 at 10:55 am

    Sadly, there’s no one to step in and clean up this mess because there’s a Republican fox guarding every entry point to the UF henhouse.

    Not quite all.

    The University of Florida is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award associate, baccalaureate, masters, education specialist, and doctoral degrees.

    That accrediting organization put a different university on probation for reasons similar to what we see in Florida, which meant that the university’s federal financial funding became at risk.

    The association had placed the university on probation last December after deciding there had been a violation of governing rules following Gov. Matt Bevin’s move to fire the board of trustees and name a new one. The organization cited concerns about undue external political influence on the university and an inconsistency with the university’s policies and the governor’s actions.

  26. 26.

    Betty Cracker

    December 7, 2021 at 11:01 am

    @RSA: Great point, and I should have noted in this post that UF is being investigated by that body, as reported in the student newspaper here. No doubt this is why Hosseini is telling everyone to STFU

    @Kay: Yep. What a bunch of frauds. But we knew that.

  27. 27.

    Almost Retired

    December 7, 2021 at 11:05 am

    Unbelievable.  Is the FSU system under the same pressure, or had they already fallen in line?

  28. 28.

    Betty Cracker

    December 7, 2021 at 11:07 am

    @Geminid: I can’t tell you how many “Fire Coach [fill in the blank] campaigns I’ve seen waged at UF. Will we see the same amount of energy directed at getting rid of the people who are destroying the school’s academic reputation? Probably not. Those campaigns are usually the brainchild of boosters who don’t give a shit about academics.

  29. 29.

    David Anderson

    December 7, 2021 at 11:08 am

    Speaking as someone who will likely go on the academic job market in a few years — yeah, people with options are very aware of which university systems will allow and encourage exploration of topics that go against the short term interests of the powers that be.

  30. 30.

    PaulWartenberg

    December 7, 2021 at 11:09 am

    Gator alumnus here.

    Fuchs should resign in disgrace, Housseini should be charged with interfering with the university’s academic charter, and DeSantis should be investigated by the feds for abusing his office and interfering with UF students’/faculty First Amendment rights.

  31. 31.

    Matt McIrvin

    December 7, 2021 at 11:09 am

    @cain: Here as in other ways (the call to recruit cops who were fired for violating vaccine mandates, for instance), I’ve assumed the Florida state government is specifically trying to drive out liberals and attract the hardcore right, to make Florida a deeper-red state. They’re calculating that they come out ahead. They might–conservative tribalism is powerful. They lose the conventional branding of good organizations but gain the branding of being good for Fox News fans.

  32. 32.

    Kay

    December 7, 2021 at 11:12 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    They’re penning their 46th article on a dinner party scandal at Yale Law. Really.

  33. 33.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 7, 2021 at 11:12 am

    Off topic but Holy f*ck:

    Rex Chapman??
    @RexChapman

    Life is a game of inches…

  34. 34.

    Betty Cracker

    December 7, 2021 at 11:14 am

    @Almost Retired: I suspect every public college and university in the state is under pressure. One positive thing is that the UF trustees wanted this swept under the rug, and that’s not happening. They issued their bogus report, and a faculty senate-led committee kept on digging, which produced the new findings. The union isn’t rolling over.

  35. 35.

    Kay

    December 7, 2021 at 11:17 am

    Will Stancil
    @whstancil
    ·20h
    You know what the real political correctness is? How we can’t say what everyone saw: that elements in the MPD seemed to let Minneapolis burn as payback, and then largely abandoned the city for 18 months, while collecting a paycheck, to teach us a lesson about crossing the police

    This is true, it wasn’t just Minneapolis, and someone should write a newsletter about it.
    We were punished for daring to criticize them. They’re now using their own refusal to work to justify more funding and deference towards them. They pulled it off.

  36. 36.

    Geminid

    December 7, 2021 at 11:30 am

    @Betty Cracker: The irony in U. Va.’s case is that no one wanted Bronco Mendenhall to go. But some boosters were arrogant enough to think they should manage his coaching staff. Mendenhall set them straight.

  37. 37.

    Betty Cracker

    December 7, 2021 at 11:32 am

    @PaulWartenberg: Amen. I’ve got letters to the editors to write!

  38. 38.

    Mathguy

    December 7, 2021 at 11:38 am

    @burnspbesq: The service academies aren’t even in the conversation for these rankings–they aren’t R-1s. USN rankings are worthless anyway.

  39. 39.

    BigJimSlade

    December 7, 2021 at 11:39 am

    To steal Atrios’ line, time for another blogger ethics panel!

  40. 40.

    Leto

    December 7, 2021 at 11:39 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: That vehicle obviously wasn’t built “Ford Tough”… I’ll see myself out.

  41. 41.

    Skepticat

    December 7, 2021 at 11:39 am

    Florida Republicans are destroying the state’s flagship university everything they touch.

  42. 42.

    Almost Retired

    December 7, 2021 at 11:46 am

    @Betty Cracker:  Good for the union and the faculty. I am sure the concept of tenure will be the next target. After all, it’s not in the Constitution

  43. 43.

    BigJimSlade

    December 7, 2021 at 11:55 am

    @RSA: Really? SACSCOC?
    The writers of this era are ridiculous.

  44. 44.

    Ocotillo

    December 7, 2021 at 11:56 am

    I have always wondered why there has not been an active campaign to try and work with HS recruits who are considering Red state universities to boycott them.  Academics, public says “meh”.  Hit ’em where it hurts, college football recruiting.  If all of sudden black athletes decide to go to Penn State or UCLA instead of Alabama, LSU or Florida, maybe it might get some attention.

  45. 45.

    frosty

    December 7, 2021 at 12:03 pm

    Betty Cracker @top: Y’all are making it harder for us liberal snowbirds to spend wintertime in Florida. Alabama and Mississippi were already writeoffs; Louisiana and Texas close behind. Maybe Georgia will come through!

    Nevertheless we’ll be going through all of those again in a couple of months.

  46. 46.

    Craigie

    December 7, 2021 at 12:05 pm

    @burnspbesq:  I beg to differ. UCSB has an amazing faculty and surfing. How do you think I got to be this smart and this good looking?

  47. 47.

    eclare

    December 7, 2021 at 12:05 pm

    @Ocotillo:   There has been some effort to get recruits not to go to college in TX.  IIRC the NAACP is heading it up.

  48. 48.

    Leto

    December 7, 2021 at 12:05 pm

    @Ocotillo: that’s actually been a thing for the past few years, but more specifically trying to get black athletes to go to HBCUs. Def a worthy goal, but that’s a long term issue and you’d need a large number of the best recruits to commit to that, as well as having it last multiple years/decades to reverse the trends of the traditional “power schools/conferences” sucking up all the talent.

  49. 49.

    Ruckus

    December 7, 2021 at 12:14 pm

    @James E Powell:

    In this case it seems the answer ends up at the same place. Not college in FL.

  50. 50.

    Anonymous At Work

    December 7, 2021 at 12:18 pm

    @David Anderson: You mean, which universities will back faculty over “l’outrage du jour” or controlling donor (cough ART POPE cough) intent on wrecking education?  Yeah, management support is a helluva drug.

  51. 51.

    Ruckus

    December 7, 2021 at 12:19 pm

    @cain:

    I find it ironic that anti-govt types are putting the political screws on a educational institution.

    They aren’t against educational institutions. Or government. They are against educational institutions, or government, that teach anything but their bullshit. Reality works against their desired political outcome.

  52. 52.

    mardam

    December 7, 2021 at 12:21 pm

    Maybe they’ll just open a satellite campus of the University of Austin.

  53. 53.

    Anonymous At Work

    December 7, 2021 at 12:22 pm

    @Almost Retired: Accreditation site visit is unlikely to go well, either.  The site assessors will schedule their time with upper management and schedule separate private time down the ladder, to see what’s really going on.  Hard to quickly sweep this stuff under rugs without giving in.

  54. 54.

    RSA

    December 7, 2021 at 12:23 pm

    @Betty Cracker: I should have noted in this post that UF is being investigated by that body, as reported in the student newspaper here.

    Oh, thanks for the pointer! I wasn’t aware.

    @BigJimSlade: Really? SACSCOC?
    The writers of this era are ridiculous.

    LOL.

  55. 55.

    Blue Galangal

    December 7, 2021 at 12:29 pm

    @Almost Retired: That’s what I expect to see targeted next. I’m actually surprised to hear that Florida allows unions. Our new dean is a transplant from a state where there are no unions and professors are at-will hires, and he’s had a rough landing here in a rust belt public university with several strong unions.

  56. 56.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    December 7, 2021 at 12:36 pm

    @James E Powell: ​

    Which do you suppose is more important to most parents, a real and honest education or a credential that will enhance their children’s careers?

    One should expect the two to coincide, i.e, that the enhancing credential would arise from the reputation of providing a real and honest education.​

  57. 57.

    burnspbesq

    December 7, 2021 at 12:38 pm

    @Geminid:

    Mendenhall is a good coach. He will land on his feet.

  58. 58.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    December 7, 2021 at 12:42 pm

    @BigJimSlade: ​ Really? SACSCOC [Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges]

    Well, hey, at least they’re not the Commission on Colleges Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (COCSACS).

  59. 59.

    Geminid

    December 7, 2021 at 12:51 pm

    @burnspbesq: Bronco Mendenhall may decide to step back from coaching this coming year. But whenever he decides to get into the market, Mendenhall will be much sought after.

  60. 60.

    Soprano2

    December 7, 2021 at 1:33 pm

    I won’t be a bit surprised if the MO state legislature starts interfering with MU and the Missouri university system in much the same way. They’re already signaling that they’re going to start interfering with local school boards in some as-yet undefined way. They just love “local control” – as long as the locals do what Republicans want. I swear, half of the idiotic things the state legislature tries to do in this area is because they’re butthurt about what some officials in St. Louis or Kansas City do.

  61. 61.

    Citizen_X

    December 7, 2021 at 1:37 pm

    Are the Trustees appointed by the governor? Maybe Val Demings or whoever should run on “throw Husseini out on his ass” as part of their platform. Might be worth a few alumni votes.

     

    Also, “academic freedom” is a bit abstract for most voters, but banning any discussion of racism while they’re trying to recruit prospects for football and whatnot? That might hurt them if there’s a “Say no to UF” campaign.

  62. 62.

    Yutsano

    December 7, 2021 at 1:51 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly: HOLY JESUS FUCK!!!

  63. 63.

    VOR

    December 7, 2021 at 1:59 pm

    I suspect state level of funding for public colleges and universities has dropped on a relative basis nationwide, not just in Florida. For my state school alma mater, state funding on a relative per-student basis has been dropping for decades. The school’s website on budget, showing FY2020, says the state only supplied 17% of annual budget with tuition being 24%. In response, the school is increasingly recruiting out of state and international students because they pay higher tuition. Then the same local GQP who keep cutting the school’s funding complain the school is no longer fulfilling its mandate of educating state residents.

  64. 64.

    Geminid

    December 7, 2021 at 2:02 pm

    @Citizen_X: Demings is running for Senator to replace Marco Rubio, and will have better issues to pound him on than the state’s governance of it’s universities. Whichever Democrat who’s nominated for Governor could make it an issue. I know that at least one of the candidates, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, makes much of her University of Florida background. I’m not sure how much attention voters in general will pay to this issue, though, even if they should. But Fried or another nominee will have better ones with which to attack DeSantis.

  65. 65.

    Zelma

    December 7, 2021 at 2:34 pm

    I hate to say this, but not a single student in Florida will refuse admission (or fail to apply) to the University of Florida because of this.  And sadly, given the current state of the academic job market, few if any aspiring professors will reject an offer from UF.  The only place this might hurt UF is at the top ranks and then only in the humanities and social sciences.  And maybe medicine.  They might lose some big names who have alternatives or they might fail to attract a star who might otherwise have considered UF.  And it might hurt them in the despicable USNews rankings.

    But the governor and his people don’t care about higher education.  What they care about is power.  And pleasing their base, which hates the pointy-headed intellectuals who think they are soo smart.  Now if you could convince the voters that the sorry state of UF football is directly the fault of DeSantis and Housseini (clearly a Muslim really prefers soccer), then you might have a chance.

  66. 66.

    Mike G

    December 7, 2021 at 8:06 pm

    Red states with their governments rife with willful ignorance and anti-intellectualism are as incompatible with a real university as Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.

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