'Frightening' report sounds alarm on DeSantis’ threat to 'survival' of higher education: professor
A new report entitled "Political Interference and Academic Freedom in Florida's Public Higher Education System," produced by the American Association of University Professors, sounds the alarm on the "destruction" governor and 2024 GOP candidate Ron DeSantis "is inflicting upon his state's colleges and universities," according to a December 7 MSNBC op-ed by Georgetown University professor Jacques Berlinerblau.
"Reading through 'Political Interference,' the author of Campus Confidential: How College Works, and Doesn't, For Professors, Parents and Students writes, "I was struck by the staggering number and variety of extremist conservative missions that are being launched against higher education. These range from donors practicing what I call 'viewpoint philanthropy' (providing funding for partisan pet projects) to attempts by the Legislature to fund a 'Freedom Institute' whose academic goal, of course, would be to end 'cancel culture.'" He emphasizes, "This air, land and sea invasion of Florida's campuses entails lawsuits, legislative skulduggery and hostile takeovers of boards and committees."
Berlinerblau emphasizes, "The study — which will dismay professors, students and parents alike — concludes with an ominous warning about mounting authoritarian threats to scholars across the globe."
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The report reads:
'We call on all professional organizations, unions, faculty, students, staff, administrators, and communities across the country to fight such ‘reforms’ tooth and nail and to offer support to colleagues and unions in Florida and beyond, however they can. The survival of the institution of higher education free from political interference and the ideological agenda of autocrats—a cornerstone of democratic societies—hangs in the balance. Being a bystander is no longer an option.'
Berlinerblau notes the "lengthy, meticulously researched" report's "pages are populated with incidents and characters that seem spun from a campus novel, a genre of fiction that lampoons the extreme dysfunction of the frisbee-strewn quad. Unintentionally, the AAUP's report illuminates DeSantis' role as a comedy content creator."
The "consequences" of the governor's takeover, the professor adds, "are now evident," as over 40 percent of the state's New College faculty has quit this year. He emphasizes, "At other state schools, 'professors are leaving the state in droves, either retiring or accepting offers in other states [...] Many are leaving the state, often to take positions at less prestigious institutions with more onerous teaching loads.'"
Noting that "Republicans are not only good at dismantling democratic institutions, but enriching themselves in the process," Beerlinderblau writes, "'Political Interference' exposes how GOP patronage networks are filling in the gaps created by DeSantis' purges. It should come as no surprise then that sitting on one New College presidential search committee was Bridget Ziegler, the co-founder of Moms for Liberty (whose husband has been accused of rape, allegations he has denied)."
READ MORE: The crashing and burning of Moms for Liberty co-founder, the Florida GOP and Ron DeSantis
Berlinerblau's full op-ed is here.
