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I thought it would be useful to have a discussion of the destruction of the New College of Florida by DeSantis and his cronies. Here are a few articles to start with - the first is particularly detailed.
When they announced they had hired a baseball coach, she felt sorry for the future players. New College doesn’t even have a ball field.
When a colleague told her that a Bible verse had appeared on cups at the campus coffee shop, she had to see for herself. There it was, in red, with the name of the Bible chapter spelled wrong: “Phillipians” 4:13. Reid looked up the words. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Then, a colleague she knew distantly, a computer science professor named Aaron Hillegass, was all over the news.
He had called the governor a fascist and tweeted his resignation, which went viral: “If I were more patriotic,” Hillegass typed, “I would burn the college’s buildings to the ground.”
Now, as students prepare for the fall semester, the impact of the faculty exodus is becoming apparent: many classes won’t be offered at New College this term."
Note: 40 faculty members is more than a third of the entire faculty.
She said conservative advocates had complained about her past employment with The New York Times and her work to increase diversity in journalism, and she showed The Texas Tribune multiple revisions to her job offer. “This offer letter ... really makes it clear that they don’t want me there,” she said. “But in no shape, form or fashion would I give up a tenured position at UT for a one-year contract that emphasizes that you can be let go at any point.”
A semester inside the siege: New College professor is trapped in the takeover (Tampa Bay Times)
"When administrators told students and faculty to remove the pronouns from their email signatures, Reid refused.When they announced they had hired a baseball coach, she felt sorry for the future players. New College doesn’t even have a ball field.
When a colleague told her that a Bible verse had appeared on cups at the campus coffee shop, she had to see for herself. There it was, in red, with the name of the Bible chapter spelled wrong: “Phillipians” 4:13. Reid looked up the words. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Then, a colleague she knew distantly, a computer science professor named Aaron Hillegass, was all over the news.
He had called the governor a fascist and tweeted his resignation, which went viral: “If I were more patriotic,” Hillegass typed, “I would burn the college’s buildings to the ground.”
Chaos at New College of Florida (Inside Higher Ed)
"When a committee of the New College of Florida Board of Trustees met in July, a whopping 36 faculty members had already left since Florida Governor Ron DeSantis initiated a conservative restructuring of the institution in January. That number has subsequently grown to more than 40, Amy Reid, the sole faculty member on the board, told Inside Higher Ed.Now, as students prepare for the fall semester, the impact of the faculty exodus is becoming apparent: many classes won’t be offered at New College this term."
Note: 40 faculty members is more than a third of the entire faculty.
In Florida and Texas, we’re seeing the costs of the right-wing's war on higher ed (MSNBC)
"The story about New College was published a day after The Texas Tribune reported that Kathleen O. McElroy, one of the nation’s preeminent professors of journalism and who is currently at the University of Texas-Austin, decided against joining the faculty at Texas A&M University, her alma mater, even after the school held a public event celebrating her being hired.She said conservative advocates had complained about her past employment with The New York Times and her work to increase diversity in journalism, and she showed The Texas Tribune multiple revisions to her job offer. “This offer letter ... really makes it clear that they don’t want me there,” she said. “But in no shape, form or fashion would I give up a tenured position at UT for a one-year contract that emphasizes that you can be let go at any point.”
