Florida faculty, students and union leaders gathered for a press conference Monday to speak out against what they describe as state “censorship” and an attack on Florida’s higher education system that ultimately amounts to an “insult” to students.
The Florida Board of Governors, a body packed with appointees of Gov. Ron DeSantis that oversees the state’s public colleges and universities, is scheduled to meet in Jacksonville on Thursday to approve an updated list of approved General Education courses for the state’s higher education institutions, in alignment with a harshly criticized higher education law, Senate Bill 266.
Signed into law by DeSantis in 2023, SB 266 in part “gives the Board of Governors the authority to remove courses from the general education curriculum that “distort significant historical events, teach identity politics or that assert systemic racism, sexism, oppression and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States, and were created to maintain social, political, and economic inequities,” explained Teresa Hodge, president of the statewide labor union United Faculty of Florida.
“In other words, the truth of America’s history,” she quipped.
The state sees it differently. A summary of the agenda item up for discussion and approval Thursday reads that SB 266 is meant to “ensure that every undergraduate student graduates as an informed citizen through participation in rigorous general education courses that promote and preserve the constitutional republic through traditional, historically accurate, and high-quality coursework.”
The law itself, passed ahead of DeSantis’ failed run for U.S. President in 2024, was broadly seen as a targeted attack on so-called “wokeness” and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
According to Politico, hundreds of courses are expected to be purged from the state’s approved list of General Education courses as a result of the new review and approval process.
At the University of Central Florida in Orlando, for instance, this includes courses such as Biology and Environment, Humanistic Tradition, Film History, Honors Western Civilization I and II, and Plant Science, according to UCF Board of Trustee documents. Orlando Weekly cross-checked with a separate list of approved courses submitted to the Board of Governors for approval this week.
If approved by the Florida Board of Governors Thursday, the courses removed from the General Education list for state colleges and universities will instead be offered as elective courses that don’t count toward graduation requirements. Politico asserts that universities that defy course recommendations from the Board of Governors could run the risk of losing state funding.
Faculty and students who gathered on the press call Monday are calling on the public to contact the state Board of Governors ahead of their Thursday meeting and tell them to reject the updated course lists.
“These proposed cuts are an insult to our students and to the world-class faculty who instruct and guide them,” said Hodge, whose union represents thousands of full-time faculty and graduate assistant workers across the state. “Essentially, the Board of Governors is saying, we don’t trust you to think for yourself.”
According to the state Department of Education, the updated list of general education courses for Florida’s 28 state colleges alone represents a staggering 57 percent decrease in the number of courses offered.
Student Leah Sauceda, who studies Latin American history at Florida State University, said she’s worried the proposed cuts will limit possibilities for students.
“A chemistry student should have the chance and be encouraged to take a course like Third World Cinema and perhaps find inspiration, similar to that which I found when taking Latin American history,” she said. “General Education courses aren’t a checklist for degrees, they’re a chance to become a more informed, well-rounded person. When you take that away from students, you aren’t just limiting their options. You are limiting their possibilities.”
With the United States on its way to becoming the next Florida under the administration of President Donald Trump, students and faculty are continuing the fight here in the Sunshine State against what they decry as an attack on academic freedom and efforts to censor and intimidate educators.
“We must stand together and fight this attack on our academic freedom, not just for ourselves, but for our students, for our democracy and for our future.”
“The integrity of our education system and the health of our democracy depend on the freedom to learn unencumbered bipartisan agendas,” said Tessa Barber, a doctoral student in the Politics and International Affairs Ph.D. program at the University of South Florida and co-president of USF’s Graduate Assistants United labor union. “We must stand together and fight this attack on our academic freedom, not just for ourselves, but for our students, for our democracy and for our future.”
Marsilla Gray, a National Institutes of Health fellow in medical science at USF and graduate assistant who’s also active with GAU, argued that as a scientist, it’s important for students to have broad access to humanities and social science courses to avoid worsening what she described as a “scientific literacy crisis.”
“I have stuck with medicine because I want to improve biomedical education and end the separation of science and humanities,” said Gray. “Because neither of the disciplines exist in a vacuum. And having a solid standing in both is what leads to empathetic and well-rounded scientists and physicians, as well as accurate, unbiased science that considers fully its social and ethical impacts.”
Dr. Samique March-Dallas, an associate professor of finance at FAMU, expressed concern for how this will affect her students’ education as well. “Business majors particularly benefit from a robust core curriculum that includes humanities, sciences and arts. These courses develop critical thinking, cultural awareness and communication skills essential for modern business leadership,” she argued.
“I am so concerned that our future business leaders will miss out on key components that have been shown to shape the perspective and action in the modern business world.”
The state DOE ironically published a news release Monday morning — during the faculty union’s press conference, held over Zoom — boasting its purported No. 1 ranking nationwide for “Education Freedom.”
The ranking came from the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative, corporate-funded “bill mill” that draws up anti-consumer, anti-union, pro-privatization legislation for state legislators across the country. Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez served as a 2023 national chair for ALEC, according to the group’s website.
According to the DOE, Florida was also ranked No. 1 for Education Freedom by the Heritage Foundation — another conservative think tank that gained greater notoriety last year for its federal policy mandate Project 2025.
Project 2025, authored in part by former members of Donald Trump’s first administration — and some of his pending appointees — was drawn up for the next Republican in the White House as a right-wing agenda to carry out on a federal scale. The 922-page mandate includes policy proposals to expand taxpayer-funded voucher programs for private school students, dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, and reduce federal funding support for students with disabilities among other pitches.
Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association — one of the largest labor unions in the country — joined Florida faculty and students to express solidarity with their fight.
“You’re not fighting alone,” said Pringle. “You have standing with you the power, the passion and the purpose of the FEA [Florida Education Association] and the AFT [American Federation of Teachers] and of course, the 3 million members of the NEA standing together with you.”
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