The law goes into effect July 1.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Tuesday signed legislation mandating public colleges and universities survey students and faculty about their beliefs in an effort to promote intellectual diversity on campuses.
“We obviously want our universities to be focused on critical thinking, academic rigor,” DeSantis said during a news conference Tuesday, according to the Naples Daily News.
“We do not want them as basically hotbeds for stale ideology,” he said.
“It used to be thought that a university campus was a place where you’d be exposed to a lot of different ideas,” DeSantis said. “Unfortunately, now the norm is, these are more intellectually repressive environments,” he added.
Under House Bill 233, surveys would be conducted annually on campuses to assess viewpoint diversity and intellectual freedom, and determine “the extent to which competing ideas and perspectives are presented,” and whether students and faculty “feel free to express beliefs and viewpoints on campus and in the classroom.”
The bill does not specifically say what will be done with survey results, but DeSantis suggested budget cuts could be imminent if universities and colleges are found to be “indoctrinating” students.
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The measure was among three education bills signed by DeSantis Tuesday. Other measures included an expansion of civics education for K-12 schools, including instruction about the perils of communist and totalitarian governments.
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Florida Gov signs law requiring students, faculty be asked to declare their political beliefs https://t.co/eoOj7APqMu pic.twitter.com/HyQI5IEyun
— The Hill (@thehill) June 24, 2021
Why survey them? Why not just surveille them? Maybe @GovRonDeSantis can get teams of volunteers to sit in classes and take notes on their fellow citizens. Hey, maybe the state could even form a committee, dedicated to security. We could call it "the Committee for State Security." https://t.co/3rXyH2ibYp
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) June 23, 2021
This has to be illegal. How does DeSantis define “indoctrination?” Anything unfavorable to Trump?
I do know that there is indoctrination going on in colleges and universities. I have friends with grandchildren who come home from college with political opinions I know were drubbed into them by their instructors. But where would such a survey lead? Prison camps for those whose political views are not “correct?”
Trump always wanted to be a dictator like Putin or Kim and his supporters want him to be one too. Dictators routinely lock up dissidents — those who don’t have the “correct” thoughts. We have to crush this cult before it succeeds in trampling on the Constitution and setting up a dictatorship.
Why not ask them their religious beliefs and sexual preferences while they are at it to make sure everyone feels free to express that as well? This won’t make it through the legal challenges that are bound to ensue. What a dumb idea.
Aside from that, they can force them to ask the students a very personal question but they can’t force them to answer.
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