Leftist professors flee state thanks to DeSantis' war on woke: 'Good riddance'

Liberal publications decrying the exodus of leftist academics from the Sunshine State have unwittingly underscored the extent to which Gov. Ron DeSantis has made good on his vow to ensure that "Florida is where woke goes to die."

The New York Times picked up Monday where the Nation left off in September, bemoaning the apparent reconquest of the academy by Americans keen on institutions that educate rather than indoctrinate.

"Many are giving up coveted tenured positions and blaming their departures on Governor DeSantis and his effort to reshape the higher education system to fit his conservative principles," wrote the Times' education reporter Stephanie Saul.

Among its education-facing accomplishments, Florida under DeSantis has pushed back against identitarian propaganda; university DEI programs, revisionist histories; men in girl's sports; LGBT agitprop in grades K-3; and discrimination based on race, color, sex or national origin in public institutions.

DeSantis also opened the year with the appointment of six individuals to New College of Florida's 13-member board of trustees. The board, which now includes Manhattan Institute fellow Christopher Rufo, has since replaced former college president Patricia Okker with DeSantis appointee Richard Corcoran, a former GOP House speaker and education commissioner; axed the school's gender studies program; and revealed tenure would henceforth be earned.

Concerning the university's previous direction and the restoration underway, DeSantis said, "The mission has been I think more into the DEI, CRT, the gender ideology than what a liberal arts education should be," reported the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

The Times cited "liberal-leaning" economist and tax law scholar Neil Buchanan among the academics to recently leave Florida behind.

Buchanan wrote in a recent blog post, "Florida Republicans' increasingly open hostility to professors and to higher education more generally was as close to a but-for cause of my decision as one could imagine."

The economist admitted his departure as a small victory for conservatives in the state, writing, "It is fair to describe my situation as one in which 'the other guys won.'"

In a follow-up blog post, Buchanan indicated that "some fights are simply not winnable, at least not in the moment," again decrying Republicans' success in the state.

While acknowledging that the University of Florida has a turnover rate under the national average and is not experiencing "unusual" issues with hiring, the Times built an anecdotal case for why dozens of purported scholars have sought after bluer pastures.

Walter Boot, a tenured psychology professor, told the paper he left Florida State for New York in part due to a 2022 state law limiting LGBT propaganda in elementary schools.

Boot, who is non-straight, noted in an August piece for the Tallahassee Democrat that following the passage of the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act, "it became increasingly clear that LGBTQ students, faculty, and staff at Florida State University had targets on their backs."

Hope Wilson, another LGBT activist who was up until recently a professor of education at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, took issue with the state's interest in how taxpayer dollars were being spent, reported the Times.

"It just felt very dystopian all the way around," said Wilson, who has a gender dysphoric child.

Rufo stressed in a statement to the Times, "To me, this is a net gain for Florida."

"Professors who want to practice D.E.I.-style racial discrimination, facilitate the sexual amputation of minors, and replace scholarship with partisan activism are free to do so elsewhere. Good riddance," wrote Rufo.

DeSantis certainly shares Rufo's sentiment, having noted in a speech at an American Legislative Exchange Council meeting in July, "The media will say, 'Oh, some of these professors are leaving, like New College. Like, isn't that bad? Is that a brain drain?'" reported the Tampa Bay Times.

"Well, you know, if you're a professor in like, you know, Marxist studies, that's not a loss for Florida if you're going on," said DeSantis. "Trust me, I'm totally good with that."

In addition to driving radicals out of higher education in the state, the Nation indicated Republican legislation in the state is also prompting elementary school leftists to keep their extreme views to themselves.

"Teachers don't know what to say, or what not to say, and so they're opting to not say anything, not only because of fear of getting fired but of potentially getting arrested and being charged," Nikki Fried, chair of the Florida Democratic Party told the Nation in September.

Fried was apparently referencing HB 1467, legislation ratified in March 2022 by DeSantis that requires elementary schools to make public what books are on offer in their school libraries and enables parents to file objections to obscene materials.

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