# DeSantis declares war on a progressive college **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 1, 2023, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantis-declares-war-on-a-progressive-college/979135 "2023-02-01T02:55:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantis-declares-war-on-a-progressive-college/979135/1 "2023-02-01T02:55:40Z")
Ron DeSantas has decided that the small, progressive, state college in Florida needs to be taken over by bigots. I caught this on MSNBC. A small college in Florida called New College whose whole identity is basically acceptance and inclusion, has had their president fired by DeSantis and he installed some anti trans, anti-“woke” dingle berry to take over and plow over the students, faculty, and administration. This is a disgusting story. Supposedly students can’t be “indoctrinated” except that is by DeSantis and his revisionist buddies. Ugh. > **[New College of Florida students, faculty, and alumni protests Gov. DeSantis'...](https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-sarasota-manatee/new-college-of-florida-students-faculty-and-alumni-protests-gov-desantis-changes-to-campus)** > > Just hours before the first Board of Trustees meeting, students, alumni, faculty, and parents protested the new direction the school is headed in. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantis-declares-war-on-a-progressive-college/979135/2 "2023-02-01T13:10:39Z")
It’s Ron _DeSantis_, and he aspires to be Florida’s _Il Duce_ if he has to dress up in a Mussolini costume and perform his own self-produced musical routine in the Disneyworld parking lot. This isn’t anything new but since established that “the ethical bar” is not something to clear in a leap over but to limbo under he’s (seemingly correctly) concluded that gaining power isn’t about representing to the mean but rather appealing to the radicalized ‘Conservative’ base by telling them he’s alone in standing up against a multitude of exaggerated and manufactured moral peril. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantis-declares-war-on-a-progressive-college/979135/3 "2023-02-01T15:00:18Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > It’s Ron _DeSantis_ And here I thought it was “Rhonda Santos”. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantis-declares-war-on-a-progressive-college/979135/4 "2023-02-01T15:06:45Z")
> [@](#): > > DeSantis points to the school’s focus on DEI and the focus on race and gender as reasons he wanted to overhaul the Board of Trustees. So, he’s cancelling them? > [@](#): > > “I’ve spent the last few weeks as a new trustee here at New College, talking to students, faculty, and staff. And they won’t say it publicly, but that’s because they’re intimidated by their colleagues and by these bureaucrats. But privately, they’ll say these DEI bureaucracies add nothing to the kid’s education,” he said. Ah, the “people are saying” card. I’m sure they had tears in their eyes. > [@](#): > > They encourage the children and young people in the students to think for themselves to question critical thinking as well as critical feeling that it is all about learning how to use your own mind and think for yourself And conservatives can’t have _that_! ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantis-declares-war-on-a-progressive-college/979135/5 "2023-02-01T15:10:38Z")
Ron DeSantis is just the beginning, folks. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantis-declares-war-on-a-progressive-college/979135/6 "2023-02-01T15:11:36Z")
It’s all about the primary elections, which are dominated by the more extreme factions of either party. So DeSantis sees some hay to be gathered prior to the primaries by “standing up” to the woke liberals via this appointment of his. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantis-declares-war-on-a-progressive-college/979135/7 "2023-02-01T15:15:15Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > to question critical thinking Wait! Are they _using_ “critical thinking”, or _questioning_ “critical thinking”? I’m cornfused. I thought the right hated critical thinking? ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantis-declares-war-on-a-progressive-college/979135/8 "2023-02-01T15:16:26Z")
I’m gonna guess there’s a missing comma in the quote. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantis-declares-war-on-a-progressive-college/979135/9 "2023-02-01T15:20:39Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > I’m gonna guess there’s a missing comma in the quote I’m more concerned about the fact that apparently these students are cannibals, eating children and other young people: > [@k9bfriender](#): > > They encourage the children and young people **in** the students Emphasis mine. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantis-declares-war-on-a-progressive-college/979135/10 "2023-02-01T15:22:28Z")
Wait, I haven’t gotten the latest newsletter. Are progressives _not_ eating children anymore? Need answer fast, heating up the BBQ for lunch soon. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantis-declares-war-on-a-progressive-college/979135/11 "2023-02-01T15:22:48Z")
No, his drag name is Kitara Ravache. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantis-declares-war-on-a-progressive-college/979135/12 "2023-02-01T15:31:17Z")
I graduated from New College. It is very much designed to allow its students to learn independently and to learn how to learn independently. It has the highest ratings in many kinds of academic matters among its graduates. Hillsdale, which Desantis wants to make New College turn into, doesn’t have high ratings in any of those matters ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantis-declares-war-on-a-progressive-college/979135/13 "2023-02-01T15:51:08Z")
A good friend of mine is also a graduate. She’d be completely unwelcome in DeSantis’s vision of New College. She has as much pride in her school as anyone, and this is really jarring to her. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantis-declares-war-on-a-progressive-college/979135/14 "2023-02-01T17:02:15Z")
I went to graduate school with a couple of New College alumni. It was a great school for them, and they have each made really unusual decisions on their career path, to great success. A small sample size, but I suspect this unconventionality is common in New College alum, and distressing to the rightosphere. ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantis-declares-war-on-a-progressive-college/979135/15 "2023-02-01T19:13:16Z")
Yes, I realized my mistake and corrected later in the post. I didn’t think to edit the title though. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.E](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.e/32/8932_2.png) [@Mr.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.E)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantis-declares-war-on-a-progressive-college/979135/16 "2023-02-01T19:34:06Z")
Somebody ought to make some kind of law or doctrine that limits the ability of governments to control what people say. I bet something like that would be really useful in a situation where a government doesn’t like what a school is teaching so it takes over. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantis-declares-war-on-a-progressive-college/979135/17 "2023-02-01T19:44:11Z")
> [@bump](#): > > It’s all about the primary elections, which are dominated by the more extreme factions of either party. The thing is, this doesn’t appear to be the case. Bernie Sanders (who isn’t really extreme) did ok back in 2020 in states with caucuses but did less well in states with traditional primaries compared with more centrist (for the US, anyway) candidates. Likewise for the majority of current Dem House/Senate representation. This really isn’t a “both sides” situation. This sort of extremism has been dominated by one party and has been for several years now. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantis-declares-war-on-a-progressive-college/979135/18 "2023-02-01T19:53:24Z")
I was just saying that in general, primaries are something that is going to primarily attract the party faithful, which tend to be the more ideologically motivated people. Joe Six-Pack isn’t likely to be a hardcore Republican OR Democrat, but the people who vote in primaries are a lot more likely to be that way. So when campaigning for primaries, it behooves candidates to aim for what the hardcore party people want in order to win the primary, and then pivot toward the center in the general election to get the general population vote. This isn’t something unique to Republicans, although you’re right, the extremism is. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantis-declares-war-on-a-progressive-college/979135/19 "2023-02-01T20:35:04Z")
> [@Mr.E](#): > > Somebody ought to make some kind of law or doctrine that limits the ability of governments to control what people say. The three laws of republicanism 3: A citizen may have the right to speak, except when it comes in conflict with the Second law 2: Any subject deemed harmful, offsensive, woke, or in conflict with republican values shall not be spoken, except when it comes in conflict with the first law 1: IOKIARDI ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantis-declares-war-on-a-progressive-college/979135/20 "2023-02-02T15:54:43Z")
Hearing the story, I thought the issue was that the college was offering degrees in Wokeness or CRT. Nope, looks like a standard liberal arts college curriculum so I’m thinking DeSantis is confused about what “liberal” in a liberal arts degree really means. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantis-declares-war-on-a-progressive-college/979135.md?page=2)