How alarming are Florida’s higher-ed reforms? Students weigh in.

On a recent visit to the University of Florida, a student asked me a question that seemed more appropriate to an authoritarian state than an American college campus.

“Just to make sure,” she said as I asked about the prevailing mood, “is this conversation we’re having … legal?”

Like nearly everyone I spoke to on the Gainesville campus, this undergraduate wanted not to run afoul of new speech-inhibiting, higher-education “reforms” put forward by Gov. Ron DeSantis — a presidential hopeful.

Florida’s 2022 Stop WOKE Act (Stop the Wrongs to our Kids and Employees) made the teaching of anything that might engender “guilt, anguish, or other forms of psychological distress” about the past actions of someone’s sex or race an offense under state anti-discrimination law. And H.B. 999, now under discussion in the legislature, would, if passed, defund so-called diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in schools; prohibit degree programs focused on race, gender or social justice (among other subjects); discourages courses with “exploratory content”; and allow for tenured faculty to be reviewed without cause by governor-appointed trustees.

These changes occur against a backdrop of sharp new curriculum restrictions in K-12 schools — DeSantis has prohibited instruction on sexuality and gender identity, blocked AP African American studies and banned certain textbooks under the guise of protecting students from what he has called “pernicious ideologies.”

“Education can and should expose us to diverse perspectives,” first-year student Megan Meese said. “Ignorance permits hate, discrimination and marginalization. And by limiting discussions and awareness of identity, the legislation in Florida is going to instill ignorance in our students, which will promote intolerance and inequity in our future.”

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