The great UF humiliation

Never doubt that The Great DeSanitizer is the Defacto President Of The University of Florida.

Not given what happened after CommiesOnCampus – call it, um, an informal neo-con college accreditation agency – torpedoed all four finalists for dean of UF’s College of Liberal (sorry, but that word’s still written on the wall) Arts and Sciences.

All four being “radical DEI progressives,” COC bros declared.

And just like that, the Governor’s Office ordered its sock puppet in Tigert Hall to cease and desist immediately.

This after, as per The Miami Herald, the DeSanitizer’s communications director told the COC bros: “Thanks for flagging this.”

And faster than you can say “yes sir, yes sir, three bags full sir,” Tigert spit out an internal memo deeming it “inadvisable to appoint a new dean without the full participation of the next president of the university.” 

Which, freely translated, means “Our DeFacto President slapped us down hard.”

Listen, nobody’s even bothering to pretend that this was anything but hands-on micromanagement by Floriduh’s most ambitious – albeit increasingly floundering – politician.

The anti-Ron’s spokesperson, Sierra Dean, confirmed to the Herald: “Once brought to the attention of the office, we worked with the University of Florida to halt the search. The candidates’ previous statements related to DEI raised concerns regarding their ability to administer quality higher education under Florida law.” 

Just as well, I guess. How embarrassing if some newly appointed out-of-state dean got jailed for breaking the state’s puritanical campus censorship laws?

Still, this all must be especially embarrassing for Interim Kent Fuchs. If he had refused the Guv’s order – even resigning to make his point – Fuchs could have gone out a hero for, finally, standing up in defense of The Academy.

But the real tragedy is how humiliating this whole thing is for The University of Florida.

Never mind the fiscal irresponsibility of UF’s previous president, Ben Sasse. How much money and staff and faculty time and effort must have been squandered on an exhaustive national search that ended up going nowhere?

And more to the point, how much of UF’s reputation and credibility has been squandered?

Imagine future searches for any UF dean, vice president or, for that matter, president. Now that the word is out, what reputable, self-respecting, nationally renowned member of The Academy would even want to apply?

Especially knowing that, of late, so many top Florida university and college jobs have gone to politicians looking to fatten their pensions and otherwise burnish their creds with a stint in academia.

Sad. UF’s academic reputation was generations in the making, but just a few short years in the undoing.

It’s heart breaking to contemplate Florida’s Flagship devolving from a once great graduate research institution into a laboratory for half-baked conservative ideas.

That and a job training school for students who have no need for the traditional liberal arts and sciences education – sorry, I meant to say “indoctrination” – that has been the heart of UF’s mission since its very inception.

But at least we still have football and basketball.

Rest assured, UF will still be able to recruit top coaches long after the last legitimate academician has told UF “thanks, but no thanks.”