DeSantis Strikes Down on College Workers, Expels Five Professors

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The New College of Florida trustees denied tenure to five professors, overriding concerns from faculty and students that the action threatened academic freedom.

The board is now dominated by conservatives governed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. And their first targets seem to be liberal art schools.

Despite only having 659 students enrolled this year, the historically liberal public college in Sarasota, Florida, has been the focus of a Republican governor's drive to eradicate what he deems left-leaning "woke" brainwashing on campuses. He's moving to censor knowledge that may challenge his power.

Partisan politics are controlling colleges in Florida

The college's interim president, DeSantis supporter, and former state House Speaker Richard Corcoran stated that he wanted to deny or delay the tenure of the professors in part due to the administrative changes and due to "a renewed focus on ensuring the college is moving towards a more traditional liberal arts institution."

All five professors were denied tenure by the trustees on a 6 to 4 vote, with the newly elected conservative board members holding the majority. After that, the audience yelled, "Shame on you!" One last trustee, Professor Matthew Lepinski of New College, resigned from the board following the vote and left the room.

Usually, tenured professors can only be sacked in the most catastrophic situations like financial emergencies or professional misconduct. Advocates for tenure claim that it is an essential element of academic freedom, but conservatives have started attacking tenure nationwide, frequently targeting professors with allegedly liberal viewpoints.

Nassima Neggaz, Rebecca Black, Lin Jiang, Hugo Viera-Vargas, and Gerardo Toro-Farmer are the five professors not given tenure.

All five of them started their tenure petitions in May 2022. They received permission from both the New College faculty and the institution's prior leadership, including its current provost.

What do you think about DeSanti's latest attack on colleges?

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