{"id":2006667,"date":"2023-08-21T07:39:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-21T11:39:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawsuit-against-new-college-of-florida-is-about-maintaining-leftist-domination-of-academia\/"},"modified":"2023-08-21T07:41:48","modified_gmt":"2023-08-21T11:41:48","slug":"lawsuit-against-new-college-of-florida-is-about-maintaining-leftist-domination-of-academia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawsuit-against-new-college-of-florida-is-about-maintaining-leftist-domination-of-academia\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawsuit targets New College of Florida for alleged leftist academic dominance."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Flawsuit-against-new-college-of-florida-is-about-maintaining-leftist-domination-of-academia%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2006667&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Battle for Academic Freedom<\/h2>\n<p>Given the left\u2019s near-total \u200dcontrol of \u2062academia, you might\u200c think the\u200c transformation of one tiny state college into a rare example of one that is not a bastion of \u2064woke conformity wouldn\u2019t bother them much.<\/p>\n<p>But the leftist establishment, \u2063which\u200c has a \u200cstranglehold on academia and the corporate media, understands the stakes involved in Florida \u2062Gov. Ron \u2062DeSantis\u2019 initiative to remake the New College of \u2064Florida. \u200bIf even one small\u200c and\u2062 heretofore struggling\u200d public institution of higher learning can be successfully changed into \u200bone that eschews the prevailing orthodoxies that are the rule almost everywhere else,\u200c it will\u200b set an example that might be\u200d emulated elsewhere in the country.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>That is why students and professors at New College, which is located \u2063in Sarasota, have filed\u200d a lawsuit in federal court against its trustees, interim\u200d president, and state education \u2063officials. They want to stop the implementation of \u2064a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawsuit-against-new-college-of-florida-is-about-maintaining-leftist-domination-of-academia\/\" title=\"Lawsuit targets New College of Florida for alleged leftist academic dominance.\">recently passed\u2062 state law prohibiting colleges<\/a> from using course curricula\u2062 to \u200cindoctrinate \u2063students in cultural Marxist dogma such as \u200d<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/universities-around-the-country-will-host-critical-whiteness-studies-courses\/\" title=\"Universities nationwide to offer 'Critical Whiteness Studies' courses.\">critical\u200d race theory<\/a> (CRT) and the woke\u200b catechism of diversity, equity, and inclusion\u200d (DEI). The plaintiffs claim the legislation\u200d is an affront to academic freedom and will \u200b\u201cchill\u201d the ability of departments and professors to \u200bmainstream\u2063 gender and queer \u2062studies, as is currently the case at virtually every other American college and university.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>While their lawsuit is legally\u2062 dubious, their purpose\u2062 is clear. Flipping \u200bNew\u2064 College from one \u2062of the most \u200bleft-wing \u2064campuses in Florida is a lethal threat to the\u200b leftist establishment. Leftists oppose\u200d the\u200b initiative to return the Western\u2063 canon to its \u200brightful place at the heart of\u2062 a liberal arts education and to reject the \u200cpseudo-scholarship that masquerades \u2062under the title\u200c of ethnic and gender studies, along \u200cwith the CRT and DEI programs that are the pillars of woke \u200dacademics.<\/p>\n<p>By engaging in both lawfare and by mobilizing the media to pour \u2063scorn on DeSantis and his reformist appointees, opponents\u2019 goal is \u200dnot\u2064 only to\u200d challenge the GOP-controlled Florida government\u2019s ability to change state schools. This is\u200d also a warning \u200bto every other college board in the \u200ccountry that any \u2064attempt to turn back the woke tide that has seized control of education in this\u2063 country\u200d will be met with efforts to bankrupt them.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Potential Turning Point<\/h2>\n<p>Nor \u200dshould it be missed that the \u200dwillingness of Democrats to\u200d use their power to seek to silence\u2063 and jail former President Donald \u2062Trump in a series of politically motivated prosecutions will be the same\u200b for other dissenters from the regime\u2019s diktats about what is permissible speech or conduct.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Seen in that light, the battle over the future of the once-obscure \u2063New College \u2064is \u200dnot a skirmish intended to\u200c undermine DeSantis\u2019 boast that Florida is where \u201cwoke goes to die.\u201d Rather, it \u2063is\u2062 a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fla-doctors-report-new-effective-treatment-for-covid-19\/\" title=\"Fla. doctors report new effective treatment for COVID-19\">potential turning point<\/a> in the \u2062attempt by conservatives\u2062 and defenders of Western civilization\u2064 to roll back the\u2062 leftist takeover of\u2062 higher education that took place in\u2062 the post-World War II era.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Few \u200dhad heard of New College prior\u2063 to DeSantis\u2019 \u200cappointment of six\u2062 conservatives\u200c to the\u2063 school\u2019s board, including author \u2062and\u200b Manhattan Institute \u200cscholar Chris Rufo and conservative Hillsdale College dean\u2062 Matthew Spalding, with the stated intention\u200d of making \u200cit the \u201cHillsdale of the South.\u201d But those who were\u200b aware of \u2064the 700-student school\u2019s existence understood it was a failing \u2064institution with a terrible reputation.<\/p>\n<p>As The New Yorker observed, \u201cConsultants\u2019 reports found that the\u2064 top words students associated with \u200dNew College\u2019s culture were \u2018politically correct,\u2019 \u2018druggies,\u2019 and \u2018weirdos.\u2019\u201d It\u200c also \u2064reported that recent\u200c data showed that the college accepted 75 percent of applicants, but enrolled only 13\u2063 percent of \u200dthose who were accepted. Worse\u2063 than that, 20 percent of \u2063students dropped out\u200d before the \u2062end of their first year; another third \u200dwere not employed or in\u200c graduate school a year after they\u2063 got their degree. The median starting salary for graduates was $32,000. As Rufo has said, these dismal figures are the \u200cproduct of \u2064\u201ca culture \u2064that valued protest and activism over\u2063 work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>From that perspective, almost any change at the state-funded New College would seem to be \u200da good \u200cidea. But DeSantis\u2019 willingness to use his power as governor, reinforced by the\u200d support of a GOP-controlled legislature, to \u200breimagine the school set off shock waves on the political left.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Neo-Marxist Gaslighting<\/h2>\n<p>The claim that academic freedom is under attack \u200din Florida by \u200bthose involved\u200b in the lawsuit by \u2062the teachers and students, as well \u200das a separate proceeding \u200din which a professor of \u200dCaribbean\/Latin American Studies and Music was denied tenure,\u200d is\u2064 classic neo-Marxist\u2062 gaslighting. Throughout the United States, in almost every college and university, including those \u2064counted\u200c as bastions of cultured\u200b elitism, courses in the classics are \u2062being canceled while ethnic and gender studies departments have proliferated.\u200d Just as important, it is a well-known fact that young \u2063conservative scholars must \u2062keep their opinions a secret if \u2062they wish to keep their \u200djobs,\u2063 let alone receive tenure.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, throughout\u2063 the academic\u200c world, CRT and DEI are virtually unchallenged orthodoxies. The same is true \u200bfor interpretations of American and Western history that follow \u2064the line of The New York Times \u200b\u201c1619 Project,\u201d\u2062 which stems from CRT \u2062teachings, and treats as \u200ctruth the\u2062 intersectional myth that the \u2063United States is an\u200c irredeemably racist country.<\/p>\n<p>But contrary to the \u2062delusions of New College\u2019s leftist students and\u200b faculty or their cheering sections at publications such as The New York Times and The New Yorker, there is no \u2064legal imperative\u200b that requires Florida\u2019s public colleges\u2063 to teach any \u2064of that. \u200dWhile one could argue that interference \u2064with a professor\u2019s ability to teach a\u200d course in the manner\u200b that he or\u2063 she\u2064 sees\u2063 fit might constitute an infringement of their\u200b academic freedom, there is\u2062 no constitutional right to gender or ethnic studies or any other department \u2064or course that is drenched in neo-Marxist propaganda.<\/p>\n<p>Nor is there an \u2064obligation on the part of a public college to enforce the kind of \u200bracial quotas associated with\u200b DEI that do so much to undermine race relations.<\/p>\n<p>The New College \u200dreformers\u2063 are already taking heat from liberal pundits who \u200dare pouring scorn\u2063 on them for their decision to start an athletic program.\u2063 That\u2019s part of an effort to\u2064 restore at least some semblance of a\u200c gender balance at a \u2064school that is \u2063currently two-thirds female, \u2063a figure \u200cfar in excess of the national average campus \u200bpopulation, which is \u2063already tilted toward women.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">An Example to Other States<\/h2>\n<p>By seeking to create\u200d a Hillsdale-style Western canon curriculum\u2063 as well\u2064 as\u2062 to promote its efforts to replace the\u200b \u201c1619\u201d myth \u200cabout American \u200chistory with one rooted in the \u201c1776\u201d narrative in a public school,\u2064 Florida is setting an\u200c example that could be emulated\u200d in other red states, where, to date, governors and legislators\u2063 have\u2062 lacked the interest or courage\u200d to challenge the left-wing academic \u2062establishment. And given \u2062the dominance of leftists on private college boards of directors,\u200d the best\u200b way to create more Hillsdales\u200d would \u200dbe for governors who often have the power to\u200b influence the administration of state\u200c schools to use it\u2064 to push\u200d back against the left.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s in that context that the various \u2063lawfare gambits being tried \u200bagainst\u200b New \u2062College \u200cshould \u200cbe viewed.<\/p>\n<p>The left never hesitates to use power to put their ideas into action, no matter how radical they might be. Conservatives must do\u2064 the same, \u2064which is why DeSantis\u2019 anti-woke offensive against Disney and public elementary and secondary school woke \u2062indoctrination is a test case to see if such an effort can succeed. If New College can \u2064be prevented from \u2064changing, it will be \u200ca green light to \u2064school administrations\u2064 everywhere to crack\u200b down \u2064even harder on dissent from non-leftists. But if it succeeds, then New\u200c College might be just the first example of\u200d a beachhead \u200dfor liberty and sanity \u2064in American academia.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With the left&#8217;s dominance in academia, one might assume that the transformation of a small state college into a non-conforming bastion of woke ideology wouldn&#8217;t concern them. However, the leftist establishment, controlling academia and corporate media, recognizes the significance of Florida&#8217;s situation and the potential impact it holds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":559,"featured_media":2006668,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2006667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2006667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/559"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2006667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2006667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2006668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2006667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2006667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2006667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}