[UFF-FAU Preface:

The well-funded and well-organized conservative groups constantly  working to transform U.S. higher education to conform to their political ideology continue to try to make Florida an example.  They are moving quickly against tiny New College in Sarasota, but are moving more slowly and carefully against the University of Florida and other large research universities.  In addition to a national reputation to defend, UF has a large and influential alumni association, and the conservative groups are trying to avoid confrontations and bad publicity.  

Once again, your union, the United Faculty of Florida, is the only defense against political interference, budget cuts and other hostile actions toward our public colleges and universities.    To build our collective power, join today!]

The Chronicle of Higher Ed
Emma Pettit
March 22, 2024

The University of Florida is investigating whether a half-dozen professors in its
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences “interfered” with a Western-civilization center’s
ability to establish its curriculum “or otherwise fulfill its mission,” according to an
internal email obtained by The Chronicle. At least one department chair was also
asked by the dean’s office to sign a letter affirming that his department believes the
center’s curriculum “will provide a unique opportunity for students … and will
complement our department’s offerings nicely.”

The Hamilton Center for Classical and Civic Education, which focuses on teaching
students the Western canon and fostering civil discourse, has been a focus of tension
on campus since it was approved by Florida’s Republican-controlled Legislature, in 202

A little-known organization called the Council on Public University Reform
hired a lobbyist to advocate for the center’s formation, The Chronicle reported last
year.

Some faculty members have expressed concerns about the center, pointing to its
supposed rightward tilt and its potential replication of existing departments. John F.
Stinneford, the center’s inaugural director, previously told The Chronicle that the
center is nonpartisan and that it would build upon “existing strengths” at the
university. Ben Sasse, the university’s president and a former Republican U.S. senator,
also vouched for the center as “an important part of the UF community.”

Yet it appears that the university’s administration doesn’t believe the center is
receiving a proper welcome. Earlier this month, the chairs and graduate coordinators
for the anthropology, English, and history departments received notices of a
“Management Directed Investigation,” according to Churchill Roberts, a professor in
the College of Journalism and Communications who leads the faculty union’s
grievance committee. Roberts shared three of those notices with The Chronicle, each
of which says the investigation was initiated by David E. Richardson, dean of liberal
arts and sciences. (Richardson did not respond to a Friday-afternoon email requesting
comment.

The notices do not contain much detail or point to conflicts with the Hamilton Center
as the reason for the investigation. But Brook Mercier, the university’s assistant vice
president for human resources, said as much in a March 10 email to the president of
the faculty union, which was shared with The Chronicle. According to Mercier,
Richardson was concerned “that the action or inaction of individuals may have
disrupted or interfered with the academic freedom of students to affiliate with the
Hamilton Center, or may have interfered with the Hamilton Center’s ability to
establish or have curriculum approved or otherwise fulfill its mission.”

The investigation notice is “a scary thing for a faculty member to receive,” Roberts
said. Soon after the notices were issued, the faculty union, United Faculty of Florida at
UF, sent a cease-and-desist letter, arguing that the investigation violated the union’s
collective-bargaining agreement and university regulations. Of the six professors
involved, only one — Sid Dobrin, chair of the English department — has met with a
human-resources investigator so far, according to Roberts, who sat in on that meeting.

Roberts said the investigator was interested in, among other things, whether faculty
members were “bad-mouthing the Hamilton Center and discouraging students from
taking courses, and Sid said not to his knowledge.”

Reached by email, Dobrin declined to comment. The other five professors under
investigation either declined to comment or did not respond to The Chronicle. Steve
Orlando, a university spokesperson, said that the institution does not comment on
personnel matters.

Pledges to Cooperate
Around the time he was notified of the investigation, Dobrin was also asked to sign a
letter affirming the English department’s support for the Hamilton Center, including
its plans to offer two majors: Great Books and Ideas; and Philosophy, Politics,
Economics, and Law.

The letter, which Roberts shared with The Chronicle, is addressed to Richardson. At
the top, it includes the instructions to “PUT ON UNIT LETTERHEAD” before sending
back and a spot for the recipient to fill in the name of the department. It says: “We
believe that the Hamilton Center curriculum will provide a unique opportunity for
students interested in these areas and will complement our department’s offerings
nicely. We have no objection to the implementation of these courses and degrees. We
would also be open to discussing the possibility of shared or cross-listed courses in the
future.”

“Additionally,” the letter continues, “given the expertise of the Hamilton Center
faculty, my colleagues and I believe that there may be instances in which our graduate
students would benefit from their participation” on graduate-degree committees. “In
these cases, we would fully support Hamilton Center faculty serving on such
committees in our department. We would welcome these opportunities and would be
open to possibilities for this and future collaborations.”

The letter says the chair may “add or modify as is appropriate to your unit — but the
message of supporting/not objecting should be clear.”

It’s not clear how many department chairs were asked to pledge to cooperate with the
Hamilton Center. Orlando, the university spokesperson, said in an email that “as this
initiative was led by Dean Richardson and not the provost or president, we don’t have
information as to how many department chairs received the letter.”

In Dobrin’s response letter, which Roberts shared with The Chronicle, the English
chair wrote, in part, that while he had not discussed the proposed majors with all
faculty members in his department, he does not “object to their being submitted for
approval via standard UF procedures and regulations” and that the department “will,
of course, accept the results of that process.”

William Inboden, director of the Hamilton Center, told The Chronicle in an email that
while “it is not my place to comment on university personnel matters or ongoing
investigations,” the University of Florida “is too big and diverse for academic
monopolies.” The center is committed “to working with our colleagues across UF to
fulfill our research and teaching mission, and to provide as many choices and
academic opportunities for UF students as possible,” he wrote.
A historian of the American presidency and the Cold War, and a longtime friend of

Sasse, Inboden was announced as the center’s new director in June.

The center is apparently top of mind for Sasse. In a Thursday message to the faculty,
Sasse said the center is recruiting top scholars and building a “multidisciplinary
curriculum” that will include five new undergraduate majors, as well as “general
education classes for all UF students” in civil discourse and civic literacy.

He also offered a “quick word about academic freedom.” Earlier this month, he and J.
Scott Angle, the provost, met with Richardson to discuss some “concerning issues.”
The dean “acknowledged some egregious actions by others in the college and is
working to get to the bottom of it,” according to Sasse, adding that Richardson would
be keeping both the provost and the president in the loop.

The university, Sasse wrote, depends on its ability to “expose students to a wide range
of opinions in an environment free from the fear of reprisal.”

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