Amid the growing but anecdotal evidence that Florida’s new laws might be chasing university faculty away lies a real, deeper concern. Because incontrovertible proof is hard to come by, people can argue about how real the effects are. But they can’t dismiss an important reality, one that hasn’t been central to this debate so far. From the Stop Woke Act to making it harder for faculty to retain tenure, each change risks corroding the integrity of Florida’s highly ranked higher education system. Like a slowly rusting water pipe, the damage may not be noticeable next week or next year, but it’s there — and will be expensive to fix.
That’s the real problem. Each one of these actions by Gov. Ron DeSantis and his captive Republican Legislature don’t just reflect their beliefs and their policies; they are the law of the land in Florida — and could remain so long after DeSantis has left the Governor’s Mansion. The worst may not even come on his watch. Floridians will be left to pick up the pieces and rewrite the laws, or the problems will only get worse.
In May, when DeSantis signed the ban on funding DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) programs, he said that: “Florida has ranked No. 1 in higher education for seven years in a row, and by signing this legislation we are ensuring that Florida’s institutions encourage diversity of thought, civil discourse and the pursuit of truth for generations to come. Florida is taking a stand for empowering students, parents and educators to focus on creating opportunities for our younger generations. I am happy to have worked with the Legislature to get this important legislation signed, sealed and delivered.”
Floridians who care about higher education should mark the governor’s words, particularly this phrase: “for generations to come.” It is true that U.S. News & World Report again has Florida No. 1 in higher education. It’s also a fact that the University of Florida, now ranked within the Top 5 public universities in the country, worked for years to gain that distinction. But reputations and rankings that take years or decades to nurture and carefully build can also wither away. And once they are lost, the hard work that went into acquiring them has to start again.
It’s hard to see how any of the recent laws will help boost those rankings or, in fact, to sustain where they are now. Will 2021′s Intellectual Freedom and Viewpoint Diversity Act, which encouraged lawsuits to ensure students’ “expressive rights” at colleges, in any way help to keep Florida No. 1 in higher education? That law allows students to record class lectures as evidence. How will that kind of intimidation help to keep rankings high?
Same for the Stop Woke Act, which banned universities from promoting concepts that make anyone feel “guilt, anguish or other psychological distress” related to race, color, national origin or sex because of actions “committed in the past.” The list of these new laws goes on.
In sum, they chill intellectual inquiry and frank, open classroom discussions and leave some topics — critical race theory, for one — virtually unmentionable. These are not the hallmarks of a great system of higher education. And, yet, they are the law in Florida and will remain so until the Legislature — some future Legislature — changes them.
Whatever people think of DeSantis and the manner in which he has fundamentally altered the arc of higher education in Florida, they should remember that, through the laws he has signed, his views will rule the educational landscape long after his term ends unless and until they are struck from the statutes. People may dismiss the anecdotes about trouble brewing for higher education in Florida, but the laws on the books are quite real, as will be their effects. Forward-looking Floridians and the Legislature that they elect should not wait for Florida’s sky-high university rankings to collapse to understand this fact and to act to change it.
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Editorials are the institutional voice of the Tampa Bay Times. The members of the Editorial Board are Editor of Editorials Graham Brink, Sherri Day, Sebastian Dortch, John Hill, Jim Verhulst and Chairman and CEO Conan Gallaty. Follow @TBTimes_Opinion on Twitter for more opinion news.
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