So, in exciting news, I can now add “photo credit in the New York Times“1 to my list of accomplishments! And what a great photo to be known for too!
These great posters went up around campus this past spring when Sasse was still hiding from campus, never even coming into his office in Tigert Hall most days.
The article talks a little about the poster, but it’s mostly about the conflict between Sasse and all of campus, which he dismisses as the screaming of “a few dozen people” in the piece. As if hundreds of people haven’t shown up to protest him on multiple occasions. As if the unions and other organizations on campus aren’t working tirelessly to prevent Sasse and his boss DeathSantis from making this campus an unsafe work environment for plenty.
The piece also talks about Sasse’s plans to eliminate anything not STEM related from UF and his plans to prevent “indoctrination”. I am so over-the-top tired of the party of brainwashing claiming that public higher education are indoctrinating students. Until the Republicans divest themselves from right-wing fundamentalist cults that practice actual brainwashing and indoctrination, like the church of Mormon or the Pentecostals, I never want to hear another Republican politician moan about “liberal indoctrination”. It is not indoctrination to teach the truth. It is not indoctrination to teach facts about how the world is now, and how it has been in the past. Even if those facts are uncomfortable. Even if those facts show those in power in less than the best light. The entire point of public education is to shine a light on those in power and let the common people see things as they really are. GOP politicians wish we wouldn’t do that, and so they label our efforts at bringing light to the darkness as “indoctrination”.
Another thing the article highlights is the hiring of the McKinsey Consulting group for $4.7 million to “advise” on things. The McKinsey group is one I consider actively evil, and is known for union busting. So, at a time when most employees of UF are barely scraping by to keep food on the table, they have spent millions of dollars that could have gone towards cost of living raises for the lowest paid members of staff on a company that actively wants to make working conditions worse. We are already overworked as people flee the state’s repressive and regressive politics and new people are afraid to come here. Many people are doing the work of 2 or even 3 people as replacements are unable to be found for coworkers who quit. And more and more people quit, many due to low pay and many more due to fears of repression by DeathSantis’ crew of thugs in the Statehouse. But I’m sure the company that made its money by blurring the lines between regulators and industry will help with that. Not.
There’s a good deal more in the NYT Magazine piece, well worth a read for anyone concerned about higher education in Florida. And there sure is a lot to be concerned about.
- I apologize for sharing a paywalled link. If you don’t already have access to the NYT Magazine, check with your institution if they have it. Or try https://12ft.io/ to get around it