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united faculty of florida
Educators Outraged as Florida Cuts Sociology as a Core Higher Ed Course
The American Sociological Association condemned the move as "a failure of Florida's commitment to providing high-quality civics education and workforce readiness."
Jan 25, 2024
Despite opposition by sociologists and educators, the State University System of Florida on Wednesday cut sociology from core course requirements, continuing Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' assault on academic freedom, intellectual pursuit, and knowledge.
The system's Board of Governors, which is full of DeSantis appointees and oversees a dozen public universities, approved replacing Principles of Sociology with a U.S. history course. It followed the State Board of Education's vote last week to do the same for 28 Florida colleges.
While the university system's chancellor, Ray Rodrigues, said he was "proud" of the decision, sociology educators and groups across the country sharply condemned both boards' moves as right-wing attacks on Florida's higher education, just one aspect of what DeSantis has termed his "war on woke."
Echoing its comments last week, the American Sociological Association (ASA) said that it was "outraged" by Wednesday's vote and urged the university board to reverse course.
"This decision seems to be coming not from an informed perspective, but rather from a gross misunderstanding of sociology as an illegitimate discipline driven by 'radical' and 'woke' ideology."
"There was no evidentiary basis for making this decision. In fact, the board rejected a proposal from one of the governors to table the vote while relevant data could be gathered," the ASA continued. "This decision seems to be coming not from an informed perspective, but rather from a gross misunderstanding of sociology as an illegitimate discipline driven by 'radical' and 'woke' ideology."
"To the contrary, sociology is the scientific study of social life, social change, and the social causes and consequences of human behavior, which are at the core of civic literacy and are essential to a broad range of careers," the association added. "Failure to prioritize the scientific study of the causes and consequences of human behavior is a failure of Florida's commitment to providing high-quality civics education and workforce readiness."
While efforts to "Save Sociology" in Florida have been mounting since November, some in the field have fueled the attacks. For example, Jukka Savolainen, a sociology professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, wrote for The Wall Street Journal last month that "I have watched my discipline morph from a scientific study of social reality into academic advocacy for left-wing causes."
Following the Wednesday vote, Heather Gautney, a sociology professor at Fordham University in New York City, told Common Dreams, "It's not surprising that people in power would actively suppress efforts to question their power and expose the dynamics underlying it."
"What's surprising is the ease through which that suppression is happening today, apparently with the help of sociologists themselves in cities like Detroit," she added, noting that such attacks on the crucial field come at a time when society is "in such dire need of what sociology has to bring—systematic analysis, understanding, and policy solutions."
Teresa M. Hodge, president of United Faculty of Florida, a union representing educators at the system's 12 universities and beyond, similarly said Wednesday that "we are disappointed in this decision... but unfortunately, we are not surprised," given that both boards "have made it abundantly clear that they do not care about the robust education of our students, and instead only care about political games."
After the State Board of Education's unanimous vote, Florida State University sociology professor Anne Barrett warned that such policies "are devastating for sociology in Florida. Enrollments will plummet. The opportunity to recruit majors will almost disappear. Weakened sociology departments are ripe for elimination and, ultimately, faculty layoffs."
"The costs to society are higher still," Barrett wrote in a blog post on the National Education Association website. "Sociology students learn how to use empirical research and logic to assess the accuracy of claims made about the social world. They also gain skills to critique how power is distributed. In short, they are positioned to be engaged citizens, armed with the power to destabilize right-wing policymakers' agendas—and this is the threat these regulations seek to neutralize."
Florida Education Association president Andrew Spar stressed last week that "the removal of sociology courses as a core general education requirement is part of a continued attack on our state's education system. We've seen it in our K-12 programs—first, they banned books, then classroom libraries, and now they are removing dictionaries from shelves because of their content. Then they attacked curriculum for being too 'woke' because it taught the truth about slavery."
Led by DeSantis—who on Sunday dropped out of the 2024 presidential contest—decision-makers in the state have also taken aim at Advanced Placement African American Studies and AP Psychology, and LGBTQ+ people in classrooms. As a White House hopeful, the governor took his right-wing education policies to the national stage, offering a model to other GOP-controlled states and Republicans in Congress.
"By stripping them of their ability to learn about diverse topics from diverse teachers all because some state leaders deem learning too controversial, Florida is taking away precious opportunities for students," said Spar. "We must continue to fight back against measures that seek to put special interests over the needs and outcomes of students."
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DeSantis Targets Diversity Programs, Tenured Professors in 'Unhinged' Attack on Higher Ed
The union representing Florida's professors said it would "stand in lockstep opposition to any and all so-called 'reforms' that will actually destroy our state's world-class degree programs and their ability to serve our students."
Jan 31, 2023
Taking aim yet again at higher education, Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday proposed sweeping changes to the state's university system, including banning state funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and critical race theory education, as well as forcing tenured professors to undergo reviews at any time.
Speaking during a press conference at the State College of Florida in Bradenton, DeSantis said he is asking the state Legislature to cut all funding for programs he believes are "ideological."
Referring to diversity, equity, and inclusion programs—which aim to promote fair treatment and full participation—and critial race theory, a graduate-level framework dealing with systemic racism, DeSantis said that "we're also going to eliminate all DEI and CRT bureaucracies in the state of Florida. No funding, and that will wither on the vine."
\u201cThis program was going to be launched by FAMU in April. Based on the Governor's remarks today via his unhinged press conference, he wants to CANCEL this program and ban it from receiving any public support. \n\nCanceling a program about DEI at an HBCU.\n\nLet that sink in.\u201d— Rep. Anna V. Eskamani \ud83d\udd28 (@Rep. Anna V. Eskamani \ud83d\udd28) 1675185477
Apparently not satisfied with a state law requiring tenured professors at state colleges and universities to undergo reviews every five years, DeSantis also called for legislation that would subject such educators to reviews at any time, at risk of their jobs.
"Yes, we have the five-year review of all the tenured faculty, which is, which is good… and the board of trustees has to determine whether they stay or go. But you may need to do review more aggressively than just five," he said.
"I've talked with folks around the country who've been involved in higher ed reform, and the most significant deadweight cost at universities is typically unproductive tenured faculty," the governor added. "And so why would we want to saddle you as taxpayers with that cost if we don't have to do that?"
United Faculty of Florida (UFF), the union representing college and university educators in the state, said it would fight DeSantis' proposals.
"The United Faculty of Florida stand in lockstep opposition to any and all so-called 'reforms' that will actually destroy our state's world-class degree programs and their ability to serve our students," UFF President Andrew Gothard said in a statement. "We will not allow Florida's future to be sacrificed for cheap political points."
\u201cRon DeSantis just held an UNHINGED press event promising to DEFUND Diversity, Equity, + Inclusion programs in all public colleges/universities.\n\nHis rants against \u2018political ideology\u2019 + \u2018indoctrination\u2019 are accusations in a mirror.\n\nHe wants total political censorship + control.\u201d— Carlos Guillermo Smith (@Carlos Guillermo Smith) 1675184661
Writing for The Chronicle of Higher Education, Francie Diep and Emma Pettit contended that "it's been a dizzying month for higher ed in the Sunshine State."
As the authors explained:
The recent avalanche of activity began in late December, when DeSantis' office requested that state colleges and universities list their spending on programs related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and critical race theory. Florida's Republican House Speaker, Paul Renner, later asked the same campuses to turn over a mountain of additional DEI-related information.
DeSantis' office also requested that state universities report data on transgender students, and he appointed six new trustees to the New College of Florida's board because, according to his press secretary, the small liberal arts institution has put "trendy, truth-relative concepts above learning."
"What I find most troubling is that DeSantis is putting out a blueprint for other governors and state legislatures,” Kristen A. Renn—a professor at Michigan State University who researches LGBTQ+ college issues—told The Chronicle of Higher Education. "He's doing these things in ways that anybody else can pick this up and do it."
DeSantis—a potential 2024 presidential candidate—has also come under fire for other policies and actions including rejecting a college preparatory African-American studies course, banning unapproved books from K-12 libraries, and the Stop WOKE Act, a CRT ban that applies to schools from the primary through university levels and is meant to combat what the governor called "wokeness as a form of cultural Marxism."
\u201cBanning books, banning DEI, and targeting trans students is all ok but having neo nazis like Nick Fuentes tabling on FSU's campus is ok. Welcome to DeSantis' Florida.\u201d— Alejandra Caraballo (@Alejandra Caraballo) 1674832846
Mia Brett, legal historian at The Editorial Board, last week compared Republicans' attacks on education across the country to similar moves by the leaders of Nazi Germany during the early months of their regime.
"I'm not being hyperbolic when I say this is directly out of Nazi laws passed in 1933. Though if this Republican effort is successful, you might not be able to learn things like that anymore," she wrote, adding that the legislation banning courses on CRT and racial and gender identity are a "chilling erosion of academic freedom and a huge step toward fascist academic control in the service of right-wing narratives."
\u201cI wrote for @johnastoehr last week about how republicans are using the Nazi playbook for fascist education control. Here\u2019s another example https://t.co/oD0X1j0EoN\u201d— Dr. Mia Brett (@Dr. Mia Brett) 1675179218
"While it's still legal to teach history, remember where such efforts have led and take them seriously," Brett ominously warned.
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