The article discusses the ongoing culture wars driven by right-wing figures, particularly in Florida, under Governor Ron DeSantis. It critiques the backlash against academic freedom, especially in higher education, with DeSantis and his allies aiming to regulate university content and restrict teachings on topics like LGBTQ+ rights and racial equality. The piece focuses on the controversial interference in the University of Florida’s presidential search, where DeSantis and his supporters rejected qualified candidates in favor of those aligned with his anti-“woke” agenda. The article highlights concerns about the erosion of intellectual freedom and the manipulation of university leadership for political gain.
Are their minds so weak that mere exposure to certain books will infect them with what Elon Musk calls “the woke mind virus”?
They don’t want you inoculated against measles, but they’re doing their damnedest to inoculate Americans against knowledge.
Novels upset them; poetry upsets them; science upsets them; history upsets them; art upsets them; questioning of authority upsets them.
Universities really, really upset them — all that interrogating norms; all that challenging orthodoxy; all that critical inquiry.
To that end, Donald Trump’s going to war with Harvard, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, even Penn, his alma mater.
Ron DeSantis beat him to it: The governor’s been trying for years to regulate speech, impose restrictions on what teachers can teach, and decree which books the state of Florida finds “acceptable.”
While he’s had some success in K-12, enabling Moms for Liberty and their ilk in their book-banning crusade and threatening educators with dire consequences if they mention the existence of gay and trans people, some judges, unsurprisingly partial to the First Amendment, have slapped him down.
DeSantis, nothing if not energetic in his rage, is now determined to shield our precious college students from Dangerous Thoughts.
Choose the administrators. Choose the presidents. Control the universities.
The University of Florida needs a new dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences — with 40 majors and more than 10,000 students, it’s the largest college at UF.
They got as far as interviewing four highly qualified candidates: two mathematicians — UF’s own Kevin P. Knudson and Maggy Tomova, dean of UCF’s College of Science; Ryan Schroeder, dean of Georgia Southern’s College of Behavioral and Social Sciences; and Robert Brinkmann, a professor of Geology and dean of Liberal Arts and Science at Northern Illinois University.
‘Radical DEI progressives’
But two weeks ago, the governor blew up the search. Demanded UF stop it.
Seems the finalists, admired scholars and seasoned leaders, are crypto-Marxist, Trump-hating eggheads bent on destroying America.
An anonymous social media account calling itself “Commies on Campus” ran shrieking to Bryan Griffin, DeSantis’ communications director, calling all four “radical DEI progressives.”
The Commies posted slick, selectively edited videos of candidate interviews, slamming Brinkmann for stating the obvious: “We have people in charge of things in our country that don’t have any business being in charge of those things,” and Knudson for being proud that as head of UF’s Honors Program “we were able to increase the number of African American and Hispanic students in the program.”
As if that’s somehow shameful.
Kent Fuchs, UF’s invertebrate of an interim president, sent out a memo pretending “terminating the search” was the only thing to do, what with the university also in the middle of hiring a permanent president.
Fuchs has never said no to DeSantis.
He does as he’s told, facilitating the hiring of our data-challenged surgeon general at UF’s medical school and trying to stop professors from testifying on voting rights.
Academic freedom doesn’t matter; the professors’ expertise might pose a “conflict of interest to the executive branch of the state of Florida.”
As if serving the interests of the executive branch should somehow be the mission of a university.
UF remains a distinguished institution, though slipping in national rankings of public universities. It was No. 5 a couple of years ago but is now No. 7.
Still pretty good, especially given DeSantis’ obsessive attacks on higher education in the state.
But allowing some trifling X account to dictate policy at Florida’s flagship university won’t exactly burnish UF’s reputation.
All-purpose insult
Whoever the “Commies on Campus” may be, they weren’t paying attention in political science class.
They call anything they don’t like “communist:” LGBTQ, feminism, secularism, programs for the poor, addressing the climate crisis, taxing the rich, giving anyone without one of those useful White Man Cards a fair shot in life.
“Communist” is MAGA’s all-purpose insult.
Read a book, kids: While real live commies like the ones in North Korea, Cuba, or China may think religion is the opiate of the masses and rich folks (except the leaders of these countries) shouldn’t exist, they’re not keen on stuff like feminism, they persecute gay people, and they sure as hell don’t favor DEI.
Yet DeSantis, a man educated beyond his intelligence, takes what these nameless chuckleheads say at face value.
There are in fact a number of well-regarded Marxist scholars at American universities. Yale, the governor’s alma mater, has a reading group studying Marxism and Cultural Theory.
Nevertheless, DeSantis emerged from the Red Menace of New Haven untainted.
He’s also unimpeded by understanding what universities are supposed to do.
An academic’s job is to research everything from the Roman Republic to astrophysics to Norse sagas to gene structure to the ideology of slavery to economic and political systems, which requires reading across the spectrum from “Das Kapital” to “The Road to Serfdom“ and presenting their data and knowledge to students.
We call this “education.”
It’s embarrassing how MAGAs deem Hungarian (or Putinist) authoritarianism OK, even admirable, while “communist” is the gravest of insults and socialism is a mortal sin.
Perhaps they’re unaware socialism is viewed favorably by around 36% of Americans.
That’s almost the same number who say they strongly support Donald Trump.
Ideas are not viruses
The point is, ideas are not viruses: Mere exposure to communist thought doesn’t turn you into a communist, any more than reading James Baldwin’s “Giovanni’s Room” makes you gay, any more than reading “The Wealth of Nations” ensures you’ll become a rabid capitalist.
But MAGAs don’t do high-level thinking: It makes their heads hurt. They simply react.
Loudly. Ignorantly. Irrationally.
Commies on Campus now has a new project: trying to influence who will become the new president of the University of Florida.
UF has announced a finalist.
One finalist. Chosen in secret.
He is Dr. Santa Ono, a Canadian American immunologist.
The Commies say he’s some kind of woke monster who, as president of the University of Michigan, created “THE LARGEST #DEI EMPIRE in the country.”
Their evidence? Christopher Rufo, the febrile New College trustee last heard claiming immigrants were eating cats and dogs, calls Ono “left-wing” and points to a 2023 commencement address in which he made the unimpeachable statement, “The climate crisis is the existential challenge of our time.”
Florida gubernatorial candidate and Trump acolyte U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, never losing a chance to ingratiate himself with MAGA voters, demands UF “go back to the drawing board.”
Donalds’ hair is on fire because Ono once said, “Racism is one of America’s original sins.”
Deep breath, people: 1. Both of Ono’s statements are perfectly true; and 2. Rufo, Donalds, and the Commies need to update their intel.
Ono has changed his tune. No longer a champion of diversity, he’s now singing from the DeSantis Hymnal, declaring himself in “total alignment” with the governor’s anti-woke crusade.
“I have the same views as this governor,” Ono said.
Bend the knee
During his three years at Michigan (the shortest tenure of any president in the university’s history), Ono initially won praise for prioritizing sustainability and anti-racist projects. Students say he was personable and accessible.
Then Trump happened, and, like too many university administrators, he bent the knee, shutting UM’s DEI office, cracking down on student protest, and creating, as one faculty member said, “a surveillance state.”
Seems he deployed plainclothes officers police to trail and photograph people on UM’s campus.
No wonder DeSantis likes this guy.
Santa is a real scholar, a proper scientist, with academic and administrative qualifications that could have been a great fit at UF. He’s streets ahead of DeSantis’ last hand-picked president, the empty, in-over-his-head Ben Sasse, whose one discernable talent was spending other people’s money.
In a Trump-free world, Ono might have become the leader who could protect the institution. He might have pushed back against the governor’s determination to reduce Florida’s universities to football factories with libraries curated by the likes of Christopher Rufo and courses insisting on the divine greatness of America.
Alas, Ono has made clear that’s not him, not anymore.
This is what you get when one incurious, anti-intellectual, and perpetually angry man chooses university presidents in secret.
This is what you get when there’s only one finalist.
Yes, the trustees officially make the job offer, but there’s no chance they’d hire someone DeSantis didn’t like.
This is the reality of higher ed in Florida today.
FIU has one finalist for president. No shock that it’s DeSantis’ former lieutenant governor and Interim President Jeannette Nuñez.
In its presidential search, FAU announced three finalists. Maybe this would be a real contest?
Two had Ph.Ds. and solid higher ed experience. One was a Republican political hack.
You can guess who got the gig.
A ‘plant’ at FAMU?
Florida A&M, still in the process of choosing a president, has four finalists.
Promising, right?
There were initially three on the shortlist, all with extensive university experience. Then a fourth candidate, a woman with ties to top Republicans, appeared.
She’s Marva Johnson, a communications company executive, appointed by then-Gov. Rick Scott to the Florida Board of Education and chosen by Ron DeSantis for the Florida Scholars Academy Board of Trustees.
Commies on Campus have not yet weighed in on this one.
FAMU alumni say she’d be a terrible choice, calling her “a plant” and likening her to a Trojan Horse hostile to the university’s mission.
But what the alumni want, and what the university wants, probably won’t matter.
What DeSantis wants matters.
As everyone in the unfree state of Florida knows, all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.
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Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Left-Leaning
The content exhibits a left-leaning bias, critical of right-wing figures like Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump, highlighting their efforts to control educational institutions and limit academic freedom. It strongly defends diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), and intellectual inquiry in universities, while portraying conservative critics as reactionary, anti-intellectual, and authoritarian. The tone is openly oppositional to conservative policies and rhetoric, reflecting progressive values and support for academic freedom and social justice.
SUMMARY: Apopka, Fla., residents may face up to 15.5% increases in water, reclaimed water, sewer, and up to 15% in garbage rates this fall. Mayor Bryan Nelson cited rising costs, including a $12 million upgrade to tap a deeper aquifer requiring costly ozone treatment mandated by the St. Johns Water Management District. The city emphasizes utilities must cover expenses without profit, maintaining funds for aging infrastructure. Despite rapid growth concerns, Nelson stated impact fees are among Central Florida’s highest and growth is managed. A public hearing on the proposal is set for Sept. 3, with new rates effective Oct. 1.
SUMMARY: Florida Republicans are renewing efforts to lower the minimum age for purchasing long guns from 21 to 18, reversing post-Parkland reforms. Florida GOP Chair Evan Power and new Lt. Gov. Jay Collins advocate the change, emphasizing constitutional rights for those eligible for military service at 18. While the bill has passed the Florida House and has Gov. DeSantis’s backing, it faces strong opposition in the Senate, especially from Senate President Ben Albritton. The debate intensifies after a deadly shooting by a 20-year-old at Florida State University. Democrats urge focus on economic issues, but the proposal may reemerge alongside other gun rights measures in 2026.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Alan Wooten | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-08-18 15:01:00
A coal train derailment near Enfield, northeastern North Carolina, has disrupted rail services on key routes to Chicago, Miami, and New York. The CSX train, carrying 28 loaded coal cars, derailed on Sunday, leading to cancellations of several Amtrak services including the Floridian, Silver Meteor, Auto Train, Carolinian, and Palmetto. No injuries or environmental damage have been reported, and the cause of the derailment is still unknown. The affected crossing, which handles over two dozen trains daily, is vital for regional rail traffic.
(The Center Square) – Passenger train service involving routes to Chicago, Miami and New York is on hold because of a coal train derailment in northeastern North Carolina on Sunday.
The CSX train pulling 28 loaded cars of coal went off the tracks just outside of Enfield, a small community of about 1,800 not far from Rocky Mount. Freight service is also impacted.
No injuries or environmental concerns have been reported. The cause of the crash has not been given.
According to Amtrak Alerts and Amtrack Northeast, the Floridian scheduled to depart Chicago on Sunday was canceled. The Floridian scheduled to leave Miami on Monday was also canceled.
Other cancellations included the Silver Meteor out of New York and the Auto Train out of Sanford, Fla.; the Carolinian, in both directions, between New York and Raleigh; and the Palmetto, in both directions, between Washington and Savannah, Ga.
More than two dozen trains per day use the crossing where the derailment happened, according to the Federal Railroad Administration.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Centrist
The article presents a straightforward report on a train derailment incident without expressing any ideological stance or opinion. It focuses on factual information such as the location, impact on passenger and freight services, and the status of train cancellations. The language is neutral and objective, merely conveying the events and their consequences without framing them in a politically charged manner. This adherence to factual reporting without promoting a particular viewpoint indicates a centrist, unbiased approach.
