What do red states, blue states, and purple states have in common? Answer: higher-education systems that have been thoroughly infiltrated by “progressives” who use them to spread their authoritarian, collectivistic beliefs.
In some states, a counterattack is building strength against that. The Martin Center is running a series of articles on state reform efforts, and today, Professor Michael Creswell looks at what’s happening in his state of Florida:
In January 2023, DeSantis shook up New College’s board of trustees. Five seats on the board are held by citizen members appointed by the Florida Board of Governors (BOG), while the state’s governor appoints six citizen members. The remaining two members are the chair of the faculty and the president of the student body. DeSantis removed six trustees and replaced them with conservatives. He also pushed out New College’s president, Patricia Okker, and replaced her with Richard Corcoran, a Republican who had served as speaker of the Florida House of Representatives (2016-2018) and as the state’s education commissioner (2019-2022). The new board dismissed the college’s head librarian, abolished its diversity programs, and denied tenure to five professors who had been recommended for approval.
The howls of protest were delightful to hear. A few faculty members left. No loss.
Florida has also instituted post-tenure review, which could trim out some dead-wood faculty.
And, of course, there is the nasty infection of DEI. Creswell writes:
DeSantis succeeded in getting a law passed to prohibit DEI. In May 2023, he signed Senate Bill 266, which bans spending federal or state funds on DEI programs. He also signed House Bill 931 to prohibit Florida’s public institutions from requiring students, faculty, or staff to take political oaths in hiring and admissions. For example, many colleges and universities screen job applicants by requiring them to include statements about DEI in their applications.
Taxpayers shouldn’t have to foot the bill for leftist propagandizing, and Florida is moving in the right direction.