Florida Governor Ron DeSantis addressed an audience at Sarasota's New College of Florida on Saturday in a speech that touted the state's educational achievements and reforms and blasted its “woke” stranglehold on academia.
“In the past 5½ years, no state has done more to reform and improve education. … We took on the school choice. We made sure the schools were open during COVID, fighting school unions, all this stuff. So it was really, really good.”
New College of Florida, the state's liberal arts honors college, has been the site of a contentious power struggle between the previous school board and the governor, with DeSantis attempting to reshape the institution in the image of Michigan's Hillsdale College.
In January 2023, DeSantis appointed a new slate of six board members, including outspoken activist and DEI and critical race theory critic Christopher Rufo.
RON DESANTIS SHAKES UP LIBERAL UNIVERSITY, APPOINTS SIX MEMBERS TO FLORIDA'S NEW COLLEGE
Republican presidential candidate and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks at a Never Back Down campaign event in Keene, NH, November 21, 2023. (Reuters/Sophie Park/File Photo)
DeSantis praised the school makeover, arguing that “it was so much about ideology. You know, no accountability, no grades, none of that stuff. … This is a public institution. And not only do we a right, we also have a duty.” to ensure that our public institutions serve the best interests of the state of Florida.”
The governor focused his fire on using public resources for what he interprets as ideological indoctrination.
“If you want to join a Marxist commune, if that's what you want to do with your life, who am I to say? But I don't want Florida taxpayers to fund that. So we made some big changes. …What is in the best interest of the state of Florida. And from what you've seen, I don't think you've seen a more dramatic improvement at any other institution.”
DeSantis argued that the new vision for the school is akin to the educational philosophy of the country's great writers and thinkers at the dawn of American democracy.
“The mission is: We want a liberal arts education that is rooted in the Western tradition – a classical education similar to what our Founding Fathers received when they went to college. That's something that I think will attract people, not just across Florida, but across the country.
“I think there are a lot of parents out there, especially with what you see happening on some of these other college campuses. … Now the madness on universities is not new, but … ever since [the Hamas attack on Israel on] On October 7, people will see “how crazy this has become.”
FLORIDA EDUCATION COMMISSION SAYS STATES SHOULD BE 'MORE AGGRESSIVE' WITH POLICY, GO BACK TO BASICS
Governors Gavin Newsom and Ron DeSantis (Getty Images)
Referring to the nationwide campus protests over the war in Gaza, DeSantis pitted Florida's public education system against the perceived permissiveness of the Ivy League and vowed to crack down on disruptions.
“Letting the inmates run the asylum doesn't work. So you've seen a disease in these universities. … I've talked to people who are very, very high up in the financial world and all these other things. But [with respect to education] you're better off in Florida than in Columbia or Harvard. … Now that's what they're saying, folks.”
DeSantis is a leading critic of left-wing bias on college campuses and has frequently butted heads with the state's educational establishment.
“What you see in academia is what happens when left-wing ideology infects an institution. It corrupts the institution. … You know, the problem is that the left is infecting corporate America,” DeSantis said. 'It corrupts when it infects the academic world. It corrupts when it infects the medical sector [establishment]. … When it influences the corporate media, it corrupts.
“Now you have the BLM riots – remember a few years ago? – and you have a CNN reporter standing in front of burning buildings and saying it's a mostly peaceful protest. So the facts are completely out the window. It is ideology.”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks with members of the media following an event on July 27, 2023 in Chariton, Iowa. (Sergio Flores for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The governor then took aim at the state's pandemic policies, slamming the country's medical establishment for corruption and following a political agenda instead of science.
“[During the pandemic]ideology had trumped evidence-based science. … There was an agenda and they played on a team. And you saw the corruption in that. You saw… the mutilation of minors. That is inconsistent with the Hippocratic oath to do no harm, cutting off the genitals of a fourteen year old. … And not many Western countries have surrendered to this. Only here do you see this…corruption of the medical establishment.”
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Finally, the governor has credited Florida's COVID policies with causing a massive influx of people and investment into the state as blue state residents grow tired of bigger government, lockdowns and higher taxes.
“Of course we broke the consensus on COVID. And you know, Florida, when COVID started, we were doing well as a state. Most people would rather live in Florida than with the governments of California, New York and Illinois. But the contrast with how we've handled COVID versus them is that it has created a massive influx of people, investment and businesses, unlike anything any state has ever seen.”
