NEWS RELEASE
Jan. 25, 2023

Contacts:
Andrew Gothard, UFF President, andrew.gothard@floridaea.org
Candi Churchill, UFF Executive Director, candi.churchill@floridaea.org

UFF supports the rights of all Floridians to learn without authoritarian control and to exercise their constitutional freedoms as Americans
Today, the faculty and graduate students who make up the United Faculty of Florida (UFF) affirm our intention to stand in defense of all members of the higher education community in the face of extremist, authoritarian attacks from Florida’s executive and legislative branches.
Florida’s students, families and communities deserve better than the lies and misinformation flowing unstemmed out of Tallahassee.

Since the start of 2023, a number of Florida’s political leaders have escalated attacks on the higher ed students, faculty and staff who do not agree with the governor’s agenda. These unethical and — in some cases — unconstitutional assaults have spread into programs, institutions and administrations across the state, including:

• Demands from Gov. DeSantis and the Florida House for information about the funding of
race- and race relations-related programs at colleges and universities. Elimination of
these programs can disqualify universities from receiving millions in federal support.

• McCarthyist investigations to target trans students and employees by demanding
information that could potentially compromise patient privacy and discourage individuals
from seeking medically appropriate care.

• A takeover of New College, Florida’s honors university, by extremist ideologues in an
effort to enforce conservative ideology on campus through authoritarian tactics.

• A collective statement from the Florida College System (FCS) presidents affirming their
view that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are harmful to higher education.

• A pending regulation from the Board of Governors that virtually eliminates tenure at
Florida’s universities.

Unlike Gov. DeSantis and his enablers listed above, UFF supports the right of all Floridians
to live free, to learn without authoritarian control and to exercise their constitutional
freedoms as Americans.

• We stand with our colleagues at New College and their stated commitment to true
viewpoint diversity and academic rigor.

• We submit to the public a revised version of the FCS presidents’ statement — one
where truth, hope and the value of a college degree are put before the desire to bow
down to anti-democratic political pressures.

• We stand with, support and defend Florida’s universities and colleges in their efforts to
support DEI initiatives and programs, not just because those programs are vital to
ensuring broad access to higher education, but also because they were established in
response to a 2020 Board of Governors regulation requiring them to do so, Florida
Statue 1012.86, and the Florida College System (FCS) Equity and Inclusion Plan.

• We stand with all SUS faculty and students across Florida as we resist efforts demolish
tenure and assert greater political intimidation of and control over academic research
and instruction. Anyone can support this effort by signing our petition.

• We affirm our commitment to fight in court against authoritarian control of our state’s
world-class higher education system, as we have done with our case against the
“Viewpoint Discrimination” law, heard in federal court in early January, and through our
ongoing support of the case against the “Stop WOKE” Act.

Real defense of viewpoint diversity means defending the rights of everyone, regardless of their
political or ideological beliefs, to live, work, teach and thrive in Florida’s higher education
system. At UFF, we are committed to a real defense of diversity, in every sense of the word,
and we will not waver in that commitment, regardless of what shameful, partisan attacks
continue to come down from some of Florida’s elected leaders.

From UFF’s leaders around the state:

Florida’s higher education students, faculty, staff, families and communities deserve better than
the constant stream of false attacks leveled at us by political leaders in Tallahassee. It is time to
put an end to this political brinkmanship. At the end of the day, it is the futures of millions of
students — and therefore the future of our state as a whole—that are being sacrificed for
nothing more than political pageantry.
Andrew Gothard, Statewide President, United Faculty of Florida

It is vital that we use this crisis to publicly affirm our intellectual commitments to our students,
our communities and our respective disciplines in Florida and beyond. The future of public
higher education is at risk.
Paul Ortiz, President, UFF-UF

Many faculty and students are intimidated, afraid, and some are considering changing their
teaching and curriculum to avoid scrutiny from Tallahassee. These efforts are infringing on
faculty academic freedom and the ability to teach courses with challenging content with the
purpose of debating and understanding multiple viewpoints on topics related to diversity, equity
and inclusion.
David Hoppey, UFF-UNF

Diversity, equity and inclusion policies, programs and courses help make the university campus
a place where ALL students, faculty and staff can find where they belong regardless of their
group membership. Because of the escalating attacks on these programs, our best and
brightest students are approaching faculty and asking if the classes they have elected to take
will be canceled. These are the same students who have attended college utilizing their Bright
Futures scholarships and have informed me that they will leave the state immediately upon
graduation because they know the state does not value them. I am also saddened by the
numerous faculty and staff who would rather be unemployed and live outside of Florida than
continue their positions in a state where they are demonized for doing their jobs. Summed up,
this anti-diversity, equity and inclusion rhetoric is actively harming higher education in Florida
and costing the Florida taxpayer significant money.
Liz Brown, President, UFF-UNF

The governor and his acolytes are threatening to dismantle a Florida educational system that
has been declared the best in the country. We teach STEM, business, medicine, law, arts and
humanities. Imposing a political ideology in the classroom is antithetical to everything that
system stands for. It will harm our ability to recruit both top faculty and students, and jeopardize
years of work and collaboration between administration, faculty, students, parents and our
elected leaders. Keep us on the road to success, not the road to division.
Matthew Lata, President, UFF-FSU

Governor DeSantis is attempting to instill a culture of fear in higher education, where students
and educators are afraid to teach, learn and exist in their own identities. We will fight to maintain
academic and personal expression freedoms on campus at all costs.
Bryn Taylor, Co-President, UF-GAU

By targeting trans people across the state, including in higher education, the current
administration is making clear that they want to control what Floridians learn, what we believe
and even who we can be. They are trying to intimidate and silence LGBTQ students and faculty,
but if they had studied LGBTQ history, they would know that we have always resisted attempts
to make us disappear.
Nicole Morse, UFF Government Relations Chair, UFF-FAU