Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Saturday addressed a crowd at New College of Florida in Sarasota, touting the state’s educational achievements and reforms and blasting the “woke” stranglehold on academia.
“I don’t know any other state that has done more to reform and improve education in the last five and a half years. … We worked on school choice, we kept schools open through COVID, we fought school unions, we did everything. It’s been really, really good.”
New College of Florida, the state’s top liberal arts college, has been the scene of a fierce power struggle between its former president and the governor, but Governor DeSantis is trying to remake the school in the image of Hillsdale College in Michigan.
In January 2023, Governor DeSantis appointed six new board members, including Christopher Ruffo, an outspoken activist and critic of DEI and critical race theory.
Ron DeSantis revamps liberal college, appoints six to new University of Florida
Republican presidential candidate and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks at the “Never Back Down” campaign event on November 21, 2023 in Keene, New Hampshire. (REUTERS/Sophie Park/File Photo)
Governor DeSantis praised school reform, arguing, “It was about ideology. There was no accountability, there was no grades, there was no other stuff. … This is a public institution, and we have not only a right, but an obligation to make sure that public institution serves the best interest of the state of Florida.”
The governor decried the use of public resources for what he sees as ideological indoctrination.
“If you want to join a Marxist community, that’s not for me to say, if that’s what you want to do with your life. But I don’t want Florida taxpayers to foot the bill for that. So we’ve made some big changes. … What’s best for the state of Florida. And I don’t think I’ve seen as dramatic an improvement at any other institution as what you’ve seen.”
DeSantis argued that his new vision for the school resembles the educational philosophies of the country’s great writers and thinkers at the dawn of American democracy.
“Our mission is that we want a liberal arts education that’s rooted in the Western tradition — a classical education like the founding fathers received at college. I think that’s something that will appeal to people not just from Florida, but from all over the country.”
“When you look at what’s going on at other college campuses, I think there are a lot of parents, especially. … The craziness at colleges is nothing new, but… [the Hamas attack on Israel on] On “October 7,” people will realize “how crazy this has become.”
Florida education commissioner says states need to be more ‘aggressive’ in policy, get back to basics
Governors Gavin Newsom and Ron DeSantis (Getty Images)
Referring to campus protests across the country over the Gaza war, Governor DeSantis contrasted Florida’s public education system with the tolerance of the Ivy League and promised to respond firmly to any unrest.
“Having prisoners run hospitals doesn’t work. That’s why we see pathology in these universities. … I’ve spoken to very high-ranking people in finance and other fields. But [with respect to education] Florida is better than Columbia or Harvard. … That’s what everyone’s saying right now.”
DeSantis has been a leading critic of left-wing bias on college campuses and has frequently clashed with the state’s education community.
“What we’re seeing in academia is what happens when left-wing ideology infects an institution. It corrupts an institution. … The problem is that the left infects corporate America,” DeSantis said. “When the left infects academia it corrupts it. When the left infects health care it corrupts it. [establishment]… When that influences the corporate media, it creates corruption.
“Right now we have the BLM riots. Remember a few years ago? We had CNN reporters standing in front of burning buildings saying this was mostly peaceful protests. So the facts are totally ignored. This is ideology.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke to reporters after an event in Chariton, Iowa, on July 27, 2023. (Sergio Flores for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The governor then shifted focus to the state’s pandemic response, accusing the nation’s medical community of being corrupt and following a political agenda over science.
“[During the pandemic]Ideology was triumphing over evidence-based science. … There was a plan, they were playing as a team. And you saw the corruption there. … You saw the mutilation of minors. It goes against the Hippocratic Oath to mutilate the genitals of a 14-year-old and do no harm. … And there are not many countries in the Western world that indulge in this. Only here do you see this … corruption of the medical system.”
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Finally, the governor credited Florida’s response to the coronavirus with sparking an influx of Democratic residents and a surge in investment in the state who are tired of government expansion, lockdowns and tax increases.
“Of course, we defied public opinion on COVID. And, you know, Florida was doing well as a state when COVID started. Most people would rather live in Florida than in California, New York or Illinois. But the difference with how we dealt with them and COVID is that it caused a massive influx of people, investment and businesses the likes of which we’ve never seen in any state.”
