In the three years since Ron DeSantis set out to rid Florida’s universities of woke ideology, my campus changed significantly. Professors suddenly worried about what they could say and teach. Some started avoiding terms like “racism.” One student recently told me that when someone used “intersectional” in class, the instructor told her not to use that word.
One colleague told me that he stopped assigning an article about lynching and white evangelicalism for fear that those terms could raise red flags. Another said she was censoring her language not just in class and on campus but also on personal social media.
Several professors have been subjected to efforts at entrapment. Last year a man posing as a student tried to encourage Muslim faculty members to criticize Mr. DeSantis and Israel. A similar incident happened to me. In October 2024 my department chair called me into his office to tell me that someone claiming to be a student in my Religion and Science class had complained that I spent 20 minutes talking about specific candidates, including who I was voting for and why. I was stunned. That never happened in that class or any other; it is antithetical to the way I teach. Fortunately
Brutal account of what it’s like to teach at the University of Florida right now in the NYT—extraordinary climate of fear. People afraid to say intersectional and talk about lynchings. Fake students trying to entrap Muslim faculty or just making things up altogether. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/07/o...
07.05.2025 11:42 — 👍 3613 🔁 1391 💬 97 📌 198
"[with Covid] People started playing with: 'Well, what would it feel like to just not give a shit if people die?' And once you play with that, you’re playing with fire. And it starts spreading. And it becomes, 'Well, who else could we say it’s OK if they die?'"
06.05.2025 14:43 — 👍 10 🔁 5 💬 2 📌 0
And I will keep watching them!
20.02.2025 02:20 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Mr T made Korean popcorn chicken and it was delicious!
04.02.2025 01:55 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Mars, Jupiter and Venus
Halifax has clear sky tonight!
26.01.2025 00:10 — 👍 4 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0