Press Release

The United Faculty of Florida (UFF) and Florida House Rep. Anna Eskamani stand in solidarity with the people of Iran bravely protesting regime brutality and demanding change. At UFF, we believe all people, including members of the higher education community abroad, deserve the universal rights of freedom of expression, identity, and the ability to engage in thoughtful discourse without fear of harassment, intimidation and violence.

The United Faculty of Florida (UFF) questions the legality of nominating U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse as the sole candidate for University of Florida (UF) president. In mid-October, Florida state Sen. Jeff Brandes — who co-sponsored the bill that took Florida’s university and college presidential searches out of the sunshine — stated that UF’s recent search resulting only in Sen. Sasse violated the spirit of the law (source link). At UFF, we believe that it violates the letter of the law as well.

If Gov. DeSantis and Florida’s legislative leaders demonstrated anything during today’s press conference, it is that they fundamentally do not understand how Florida’s higher education system
works. Tenure protects the right of faculty to teach and research honestly and accurately without the
threat of politicians who would fire them for doing their jobs, and it protects the rights of students to
learn about whatever interests them without being told by big government how to live their lives.