College students can’t be intimidated into conservatism
Creepy new Florida law targets free thought, reinforces GOP politics
A new Florida law mandates annual surveys of the political beliefs of college students, faculty and staff — with the threat of financial cutbacks if colleges are found to be “hotbeds of stale ideology,” according to Gov. Ron DeSantis. Too many parents, he said, worry their children might embrace liberal ideas.
Yet, the whole benefit of college is to learn new things, meet different people and ponder big ideas. The very act of growing up requires change in priorities and perspectives, whether in college or not. All parents — even liberal ones — have to adjust to, or ignore, their college students’ new ideas while waiting for them to change again.
So, this totalitarian move would be a foolhardy effort at restoring family harmony — if that were the real reason behind it.
We can safely assume that the priority is not to record the political views of campus janitors and cafeteria workers. The targets are administrators and faculty, especially since the law also allows students to secretly tape a professor to support a civil or criminal case.
University officials are rightly concerned that the law, going into effect July 1, would instill fear in professors about job security and what to teach. The law doesn’t make it clear if survey answers will be anonymous, who could use the data and when a college would be labeled a danger.
All of this is part of a broader Republican Party effort — including opposition to teaching about racism — to stop its shrinking support among young people. The more conservative philosophies they study or the more contrary ones they don’t hear, the better chance of a GOP voter.
The maneuver also is definitely about presidential politics. In a recent straw poll of conservative activists, DeSantis beat former president Donald Trump as the 2024 favorite.
So, the law continues both Republican fearmongering and DeSantis’ Trump-like grandstanding. And you don’t need a college degree to call it out.
