What's happening in FL colleges is kind of scary

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a graduate of a very liberal college and I keep abreast of the news, and have friends who are faculty at a variety of colleges. Higher education is increasingly a left wing totalitarianship to the point it's uncomfortable, even for many liberal people.

If you're upset at RDS and New College and Florida's attempts at breaking the left hegemony over higher education, then you're only a hypocrite.

OP here.

I don't know if you read my op, but I'm not a liberal. I'm an Independent, and right leaning in some ways.

However, what Desantis is doing at that college is going too far. He's even wanting to fund private Christian schools. That is the anti-thesis of the separation of church and state, something that is enshrined in our Constitution. I'm finding that a lot of Rs these days are picking and choosing what items in the Constitution they want to follow.

Yes, higher ed is mostly full of liberals. How did you think it got that way? Rs seem to be anti-education, but only if it's lead by liberals. They seem pro education when it comes to Christian schools.

And btw, I am a Christian, but I'm not a fundamentalist, and I know that not everyone appreciates or supports Christianity in public schools.

I would not be surprised if Desantis wants to remake all public colleges in the image of the R party.

You act as though DeSantis invented school choice programs. Even MoCo provides financial subsidies to Christian schools, like providing bus services.

I think you're listening to a propagandized version of Florida politics that doesn't properly contextualize the issues.

Those private schools pay MCPS for the bus service.

Desantis wants to fund the private Christian school directly.

There's a difference.

School choice is fine, but a state should not be funding a religious school. What happened to separation of church and state? Would Desantis fund a Muslim school? I don't think so.

From a doctrinal standpoint, Muslims, Jews, and Christians share the same God. So, I don't see any religious reason he wouldn't.

But school choice isn't about promoting religion-- it's about offsetting the cost of private schools to roughly match the $ the parents paid in taxes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not sure how a thread on changes to an honors college in Florida became derailed by abortion but….

New College is an extremely left leaning honors college with no sports teams and no grades - only pass/fail. The changes are really extreme given this background. But at the same time, I see the word “cisgender,” and I tune out. Older generations of the college have found the current students, often obnoxious and absurd in that way only people who drop the Nazi bomb over everything can be. (By the way, I wonder how offensive it would be to actual Holocaust victims to hear the left hand wring “Nazi!” All the damn time).

So it’s concerning yet at the same time by adding conservative students you are creating diversity beyond the echo chamber that existed before. I don’t think New College was the sort of place anyone to the middle or right would have been comfortable attending before.

Generally speaking, people of color and people who are LGBTQ do not want to be around people who don't believe they have the right to exist or the right to have the same freedoms as themselves. So when people like you both-sides this, you fail to see life through the oppressed people's lens. If you cannot accept or acknowledge the two-tiered experience, then you shouldn't be commenting on it with any authority. So no, not exactly.

Please. LGBTQ people or POC with conservative values are definitely not welcome in blue states. You only support people's "right to exist" when they agree with you.

Exactly. Last I checked the Hispanics who voted Desantis in office are POC. Guess what - many, many POC are conservative. I also know conservative gays who aren’t in favor of trans rights.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a graduate of a very liberal college and I keep abreast of the news, and have friends who are faculty at a variety of colleges. Higher education is increasingly a left wing totalitarianship to the point it's uncomfortable, even for many liberal people.

If you're upset at RDS and New College and Florida's attempts at breaking the left hegemony over higher education, then you're only a hypocrite.

OP here.

I don't know if you read my op, but I'm not a liberal. I'm an Independent, and right leaning in some ways.

However, what Desantis is doing at that college is going too far. He's even wanting to fund private Christian schools. That is the anti-thesis of the separation of church and state, something that is enshrined in our Constitution. I'm finding that a lot of Rs these days are picking and choosing what items in the Constitution they want to follow.

Yes, higher ed is mostly full of liberals. How did you think it got that way? Rs seem to be anti-education, but only if it's lead by liberals. They seem pro education when it comes to Christian schools.

And btw, I am a Christian, but I'm not a fundamentalist, and I know that not everyone appreciates or supports Christianity in public schools.

I would not be surprised if Desantis wants to remake all public colleges in the image of the R party.

You act as though DeSantis invented school choice programs. Even MoCo provides financial subsidies to Christian schools, like providing bus services.

I think you're listening to a propagandized version of Florida politics that doesn't properly contextualize the issues.

+100
Interesting that liberals claim "right-wing propaganda!!" whenever they don't like what they hear... meanwhile, they consume their own left-wing propaganda and spew it constantly. Like the "don't say gay" nonsense. Ridiculous people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great! Just make sure she doesn't get pregnant.

On the contrary, she is family oriented and wants to marry and have children one day. So we are primarily considering lifestyle, culture, and economy rather than focusing on abortion availability.

So, you think the only people who get abortions are women who don't want children?
I had a medicated abortion for an ectopic (methotrexate). I assure you, it was very much a wanted pregnancy, and my DH and I were devastated. I have a friend who had to abort at 21 weeks due to a fetal anomaly that could have ended up killing her. Also a wanted pregnancy.
I would discourage my daughters from moving to a state where their ability to receive adequate healthcare, should they have a dangerous pregnancy, is compromised.

Florida has excellent healthcare. I would not be concerned in case of a dangerous pregnancy.

Ive lived in Florida. Yes, some areas of the state have excellent healthcare, some areas are health care deserts. The question is for the future not the present. Will Florida continue to have excellent healthcare in ob-gyn, primary care and pediatrics. The rural hospitals are already closing maternity wards and ob-gyn services due to lack of physicians. Is Tallahassee, Orlando and Jacksonville soon to follow.

Most rural areas struggle with healthcare in any state.

Whoosh. Try reading to understand and not to respond.

Try not being obnoxious when you don't like someone's response.

[Anonymous]

New College is a hot mess right now.

You people trying to prop up DeSantis are insane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a graduate of a very liberal college and I keep abreast of the news, and have friends who are faculty at a variety of colleges. Higher education is increasingly a left wing totalitarianship to the point it's uncomfortable, even for many liberal people.

If you're upset at RDS and New College and Florida's attempts at breaking the left hegemony over higher education, then you're only a hypocrite.

OP here.

I don't know if you read my op, but I'm not a liberal. I'm an Independent, and right leaning in some ways.

However, what Desantis is doing at that college is going too far. He's even wanting to fund private Christian schools. That is the anti-thesis of the separation of church and state, something that is enshrined in our Constitution. I'm finding that a lot of Rs these days are picking and choosing what items in the Constitution they want to follow.

Yes, higher ed is mostly full of liberals. How did you think it got that way? Rs seem to be anti-education, but only if it's lead by liberals. They seem pro education when it comes to Christian schools.

And btw, I am a Christian, but I'm not a fundamentalist, and I know that not everyone appreciates or supports Christianity in public schools.

I would not be surprised if Desantis wants to remake all public colleges in the image of the R party.

You act as though DeSantis invented school choice programs. Even MoCo provides financial subsidies to Christian schools, like providing bus services.

I think you're listening to a propagandized version of Florida politics that doesn't properly contextualize the issues.

+100
Interesting that liberals claim "right-wing propaganda!!" whenever they don't like what they hear... meanwhile, they consume their own left-wing propaganda and spew it constantly. Like the "don't say gay" nonsense. Ridiculous people.

What propaganda about the law?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New College is a hot mess right now.

You people trying to prop up DeSantis are insane.

2023 New College ranked 76 in public SLAC
2024 New College ranks 100 in public SLAC

Source US News World Report rankings

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Abortion is bad enough, but Florida is also killing majors in doesn't like and altering courses to erase the sins of history.

Because, hey, slavery teaches valuable job skills!

Ben Sasse, the DeSantis pick for UF president, hides from the students because he is so unpopular on camps. He is on the record to slash majors and raise in-state tuition. The NYTimes did a great piece on his slithery ways.

I think I understand what you are trying to say, but can we just teach history, instead of “the sins of history”?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Abortion is bad enough, but Florida is also killing majors in doesn't like and altering courses to erase the sins of history.

Because, hey, slavery teaches valuable job skills!

Ben Sasse, the DeSantis pick for UF president, hides from the students because he is so unpopular on camps. He is on the record to slash majors and raise in-state tuition. The NYTimes did a great piece on his slithery ways.

Ben Sasse is a graduate of Harvard and has a Ph.D. from Yale. Is he a conservative? Yes. Is he too conservative for the NY Times? Yes.
Do you approve of him? Guess not.
That doesn't mean he has "slithery" ways.

[Anonymous]

This isn’t really a left wing right win thing. I have a good friend in a leadership role at UF. They have spent decades there and were a part of the massive improvement in that school’s academic ranking and they are very proud of that fact. And the current situation is not good. The faculty — even in apolitical STEM fields— feel targeted and unsupported. People are quietly retiring early or finding positions elsewhere. A lot of people really worked hard for decades to make UF a truly too public university. It’s really sad that DeSantis can’t let them continue that work. It seems like he is taking tow of the most successful things in his state — disney at UF — and putting them in the crosshairs. It seems so needlessly self destructive for the state.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in the process of choosing which colleges to apply to and I'm actively encouraging her to apply to Florida colleges. She's not going to get into an Ivy, but will be competitive for state schools and Florida colleges have excellent connections with businesses that enable students to get lucrative internships and grads to be easily recruited into good jobs. Also, the south (particularly Florida, Texas, Tennessee, and Georgia) is much more primed for economic growth than the north, and while you can leave college and move anywhere, it can be easier if you start college in your target area. We moved south in part for this reason, to profit from the regional growth and also to move our kids to a more stable educational/cultural environment.

Also if she gets raped and becomes pregnant you are totally ok with her having no access to abortion and her education and career plans derailing because you’ll become a grandparent. So trade off.

Seriously? NP here. WTF, you all do realize that if someone in a state that has restrictive abortion policies wants an abortion, most (especially those here on DCUM) would have the ability to go to another state to get it done? In FL by the way, you can still have an abortion before 15 weeks. I think OP 's daughter is good, y'all so no need for the dramatics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not sure how a thread on changes to an honors college in Florida became derailed by abortion but….

New College is an extremely left leaning honors college with no sports teams and no grades - only pass/fail. The changes are really extreme given this background. But at the same time, I see the word “cisgender,” and I tune out. Older generations of the college have found the current students, often obnoxious and absurd in that way only people who drop the Nazi bomb over everything can be. (By the way, I wonder how offensive it would be to actual Holocaust victims to hear the left hand wring “Nazi!” All the damn time).

So it’s concerning yet at the same time by adding conservative students you are creating diversity beyond the echo chamber that existed before. I don’t think New College was the sort of place anyone to the middle or right would have been comfortable attending before.

+1 Exactly

This. And while they got rid of the DEI office, interesting that their freshman class is the most diverse class that the school has ever seen. Good on them. Sometimes you don't need an office to do what's right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not sure how a thread on changes to an honors college in Florida became derailed by abortion but….

New College is an extremely left leaning honors college with no sports teams and no grades - only pass/fail. The changes are really extreme given this background. But at the same time, I see the word “cisgender,” and I tune out. Older generations of the college have found the current students, often obnoxious and absurd in that way only people who drop the Nazi bomb over everything can be. (By the way, I wonder how offensive it would be to actual Holocaust victims to hear the left hand wring “Nazi!” All the damn time).

So it’s concerning yet at the same time by adding conservative students you are creating diversity beyond the echo chamber that existed before. I don’t think New College was the sort of place anyone to the middle or right would have been comfortable attending before.

Generally speaking, people of color and people who are LGBTQ do not want to be around people who don't believe they have the right to exist or the right to have the same freedoms as themselves. So when people like you both-sides this, you fail to see life through the oppressed people's lens. If you cannot accept or acknowledge the two-tiered experience, then you shouldn't be commenting on it with any authority. So no, not exactly.

So the oppressed here that you're talking about is now faced with a diverse student body (more black and Hispanic students). Are you insinuating that they're uncomfortable with that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a graduate of a very liberal college and I keep abreast of the news, and have friends who are faculty at a variety of colleges. Higher education is increasingly a left wing totalitarianship to the point it's uncomfortable, even for many liberal people.

If you're upset at RDS and New College and Florida's attempts at breaking the left hegemony over higher education, then you're only a hypocrite.

OP here.

I don't know if you read my op, but I'm not a liberal. I'm an Independent, and right leaning in some ways.

However, what Desantis is doing at that college is going too far. He's even wanting to fund private Christian schools. That is the anti-thesis of the separation of church and state, something that is enshrined in our Constitution. I'm finding that a lot of Rs these days are picking and choosing what items in the Constitution they want to follow.

Yes, higher ed is mostly full of liberals. How did you think it got that way? Rs seem to be anti-education, but only if it's lead by liberals. They seem pro education when it comes to Christian schools.

And btw, I am a Christian, but I'm not a fundamentalist, and I know that not everyone appreciates or supports Christianity in public schools.

I would not be surprised if Desantis wants to remake all public colleges in the image of the R party.

You act as though DeSantis invented school choice programs. Even MoCo provides financial subsidies to Christian schools, like providing bus services.

I think you're listening to a propagandized version of Florida politics that doesn't properly contextualize the issues.

Those private schools pay MCPS for the bus service.

Desantis wants to fund the private Christian school directly.

There's a difference.

School choice is fine, but a state should not be funding a religious school. What happened to separation of church and state? Would Desantis fund a Muslim school? I don't think so.

From a doctrinal standpoint, Muslims, Jews, and Christians share the same God. So, I don't see any religious reason he wouldn't.

But school choice isn't about promoting religion-- it's about offsetting the cost of private schools to roughly match the $ the parents paid in taxes.

That is flawed reasoning. Property tax isn’t a user fee. Public schools are a public good for the community and for residents individually, even those who don’t use them or don’t have children. Having quality local public schools adds more to your property value than the amount you pay in public school taxes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a graduate of a very liberal college and I keep abreast of the news, and have friends who are faculty at a variety of colleges. Higher education is increasingly a left wing totalitarianship to the point it's uncomfortable, even for many liberal people.

If you're upset at RDS and New College and Florida's attempts at breaking the left hegemony over higher education, then you're only a hypocrite.

OP here.

I don't know if you read my op, but I'm not a liberal. I'm an Independent, and right leaning in some ways.

However, what Desantis is doing at that college is going too far. He's even wanting to fund private Christian schools. That is the anti-thesis of the separation of church and state, something that is enshrined in our Constitution. I'm finding that a lot of Rs these days are picking and choosing what items in the Constitution they want to follow.

Yes, higher ed is mostly full of liberals. How did you think it got that way? Rs seem to be anti-education, but only if it's lead by liberals. They seem pro education when it comes to Christian schools.

And btw, I am a Christian, but I'm not a fundamentalist, and I know that not everyone appreciates or supports Christianity in public schools.

I would not be surprised if Desantis wants to remake all public colleges in the image of the R party.

You act as though DeSantis invented school choice programs. Even MoCo provides financial subsidies to Christian schools, like providing bus services.

I think you're listening to a propagandized version of Florida politics that doesn't properly contextualize the issues.

Those private schools pay MCPS for the bus service.

Desantis wants to fund the private Christian school directly.

There's a difference.

School choice is fine, but a state should not be funding a religious school. What happened to separation of church and state? Would Desantis fund a Muslim school? I don't think so.

From a doctrinal standpoint, Muslims, Jews, and Christians share the same God. So, I don't see any religious reason he wouldn't.

But school choice isn't about promoting religion-- it's about offsetting the cost of private schools to roughly match the $ the parents paid in taxes.

That is flawed reasoning. Property tax isn’t a user fee. Public schools are a public good for the community and for residents individually, even those who don’t use them or don’t have children. Having quality local public schools adds more to your property value than the amount you pay in public school taxes.

You can disagree with the reasoning, but that *is* the reasoning. The aim isn't to promote religion, its to offset the cost, increase fairness, and level the playing field for parents whose values conflict with public school teaching.