NEA Today | Florida Faculty Stand Up For Academic Freedom

National Education Association | NEA Today ~ Written by Mary Ellen Flannery, Senior Writer (November 18, 2021)

Hours after a United Faculty of Florida (UFF) press conference earlier this month that detailed the University of Florida (UF)’s recent attacks on academic freedom and free speech, university administrators reversed course.

Three union members, political science professors who had been prohibited by the university from testifying in a case challenging Florida’s new voter-restriction laws, could testify after all, the university president said. His announcement marked a clear victory for the three professors, their union, and the overarching First Amendment rights of faculty and students to free speech.

But it was not the end of the battle.

UF’s decision to bar the three nationally known experts from testifying wasn’t the only demonstration of its cowardice in defending academic freedom and free speech. It was just the most recent example, union leaders said. For several years, faculty and students at campuses across Florida, not just at UF, have seen a growing trend among administrators to do whatever they can to appease the state’s governor and other political powers, even if it means sacrificing the rights of faculty, staff and students to pursue research, and speak freely in their classrooms and elsewhere.

Continue reading the full article on NEAToday ….

Shenel
Author: Shenel

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