As Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida state legislature have raced to re-shape higher education in the state with bills restricting DEI efforts, limiting tenure protections, and banning the teaching of controversial subjects, the silence from Florida’s public college leaders has been deafening. None have spoken out against what experts see as serious violations of academic freedom, and 28 community college leaders signed a letter supporting several of the reforms.
“I’m sure many of them are exhausted and terrified,” said Patricia McGuire, president of Trinity Washington University, a private Catholic college in the nation's capital, that counts Nancy Pelosi as its most famous alumnae.
They may have good reason to fear. DeSantis has shown a taste for retribution, and it’s not hard to imagine that college leaders who speak out against him could find themselves fired and their institutions penalized financially.
“Those presidents have a hostage to worry about,” said Tania Tetlow, president of Fordham University, a Jesuit school located in New York. “They’re not in a position to speak freely.”
Other current and former college presidents who spoke to Diverse argued that someone has to stand up.
Patricia McGuire, president of Trinity Washington University
Dr. Brian Rosenberg, a visiting professor of education at Harvard University and the former president of Macalester College, said that a defiant response from university presidents could make a real difference.
