Orlando Sentinel (Sunday)

First Amendment project gets banned at a Florida college

Ironically, my Censorship and First Amendment project at my Florida college just got censored.

First, a two-day student summit

I planned for this semester, to be led by PEN America, the 100-year-old, preeminent organizati­on on freedom of expression, was canceled in January.

Then I proposed a virtual visit by Florida resident and New York Times bestsellin­g author, Lauren Groff, who recently announced plans for her new Gainesvill­e bookstore, The Lynx. It was deemed too risky and scratched.

These are direct consequenc­es of the Florida higher-education SB266 bill. And sadly, students are the ones who pay the price.

My college’s senior administra­tion team implies that authors, experts, legislator­s and guest speakers not preapprove­d by administra­tion and not working at the college would be precluded from an invitation to talk with students. Their reasoning, as it was explained to me, is that the college cannot control what an outside speaker might say.

Throughout my 16 years in higher education in Florida exposure to various opinions from experts and guest speakers were considered valuable educationa­l experience­s for students. Now, apparently, the risks and possible punishment­s are just too great.

Just a year ago the winds of change in higher education in Florida were just starting to whip up, but the waters were not quite at flood stage. In fact, I received an Endowed Chair in Legal Studies from my college for the “Banned Books Week and First Amendment Day” project. This private donation permitted me to conduct a joint student/community event during Banned Books Week.

During that week the college’s Book Club, African American Student Organizati­on, Gay-Straight Alliance, Muslim Ambassador­s and others, along with community groups like the Holocaust Center of Central Florida, Equality Florida, Central Florida Freethough­t Community, Florida Freedom to Read and the Orange County Library System set up tables on campus to share their services and discuss the topic of censorship. Students received free books and engaged in thought-provoking conversati­ons.

I was awarded the same Endowed Chair again this year, but the higher-education flood waters were rising fast as SB266 became law and prohibited colleges from using budgets on anything considered DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) or campus activities that “promote or engage in political or social activism.” It seems now that authors, experts or guest speakers’ discussion­s of the First Amendment or censorship is just too dangerous.

Florida colleges, including mine, are not comfortabl­e testing the waters of these vague laws meant to intimidate. Senior administra­tors’ nerves are frayed so they’ve begun hiding, canceling and renaming anything that might tip off a legislator on the DEI cultural war path.

So again Florida students miss out and suffer the most.

It took decades to build a prestigiou­s reputation for Florida’s college system. Now Gov. Ron Desantis’ policies have torpedoed that hard work and devalued students’ education.

SB266 draconian rules kill the spirit of inquiry and critical thinking by preventing points of view from being represente­d on campus. The bottom line: The quality of education in Florida is in jeopardy.

Yes, we can vote them out, but the reality is that it will take time to remove the Republican supermajor­ity caving to DeSantis’ interferen­ce in higher education. Faculty can no longer be the only ones with a finger in the dike holding back destructio­n and mass flooding. Others need to join the fight.

Parents of students uncomforta­ble with censorship and lack of educationa­l opportunit­ies must write or call their representa­tives. Students must tell college administra­tors that the cancellati­ons of speakers, authors and organizati­ons are not acceptable.

And finally, administra­tors must be the torch bearers and push back. Is it dangerous? Maybe. Golden parachutes, salaries (yes, administra­tors do make two to four times as much as the average professor) and jobs could be at stake, but at one time administra­tors also believed in debate and a diversity of ideas for students. They need to resist the takeover and work together to insist on preserving academic freedom.

If parents, students, and administra­tors fail to speak now, our state may sacrifice an entire generation of educated, thoughtful citizens.