Push back against political interference at UF by Gov. DeSantis – Gainesville Sun

University of Florida alumni and students need to push back against political interference in university operations if they want to protect the value of their degrees.

UF’s spring commencement ceremonies mark the end of an academic year in which university administrators repeatedly bowed to political pressure from Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Legislature. UF’s independence and the academic freedom of its faculty have suffered as a result, hurting the university’s reputation right after it had been ranked among the top schools in the U.S.

UF is now being sued by professors and its accreditation is being reviewed, for banning faculty from testifying in court against laws backed by DeSantis and GOP legislators. UF officials have also succumbed to political interference in other ways, such as fast-tracking the hiring of COVID-19 skeptic Joseph Ladapo as a professor to pave the way for DeSantis to appoint him as Florida’s surgeon general.

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DeSantis made clear his intent to continue strong-arming the state’s colleges and universities by recently signing SB 7044 into law. The measure forces state colleges and universities to periodically change accreditors and requires the tenure of professors to be reviewed every five years. 

At a bill-signing ceremony in The Villages, DeSantis declared that professors need to be held accountable while also bragging about the quality of Florida’s higher education system. 

“University of Florida is ranked No. 5 amongst top public universities in the entire country and many of our other universities have improved dramatically, so we’re proud of that and I can promise we can keep that going,” he said.

The law and other moves by DeSantis are more likely to have the opposite effect. U.S. News and World Report ranked UF among the nation’s top five public universities for the first time last fall. But the ranking is based in part on surveys of UF’s reputation, which DeSantis has damaged.

The new law will further impede the free speech rights and academic freedom of faculty, eroding tenure’s protections against them being fired if they do or say something that upsets state officials. The measure will only serve to scare away top-notch faculty, undermining a hiring push that helped boost UF’s ranking.

DeSantis used the bill-signing event to make another announcement, which showed that he won’t hesitate to torch a major Florida institution’s reputation if it helps him politically as he pursues reelection and possibly the presidency. DeSantis announced his intent to eliminate laws benefiting the Walt Disney Co., whose officials had criticized the “Don’t Say Gay” bill that the governor signed into law.

By going after Disney, which has long been Florida’s sacred mouse, DeSantis demonstrated he would likely do the same with the Gators if UF fails to follow the Republican Party line. The governor fails to see the contradiction as he criticizes UF and other state schools for supposedly forcing leftist beliefs on students.

A state-mandated survey of campus political beliefs was distributed this spring, with the results slated to be released in the fall just as DeSantis’ reelection campaign will be heating up. He previously threatened to cut the funding of schools found to be “indoctrinating” students.

With UF President Kent Fuchs stepping down from the job, the search for his successor will provide another test of whether political pressure dictates university decisions. UF’s independence will take another hit if DeSantis forces UF to hire a far-right ideologue such as outgoing Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran into the position. 

All of these efforts will further damage the ranking and reputation of UF and other state schools. UF students who are receiving degrees this spring, along with alumni who have already earned degrees and students working to do so, must speak out to protect the value of their diplomas. Let DeSantis know that he’ll lose your vote if he continues to trash UF’s reputation to further his political ambitions.

— This editorial was written by Nathan Crabbe on behalf ofe Gainesville Sun Editorial Board

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