Julian Davis Mortenson, a professor at the University of Michigan School of Law, ripped apart Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' new bill regulating higher education, which he said was a full-frontal attack on academic freedom.
Writing on Twitter, Mortenson described the DeSantis bill as "bananas" and highlighted some particularly egregious sections that he said would strangle the freedom of professors to teach their students.
Among other things, Mortenson noted that the bill states that "all colleges and universities are forbidden to spend any money to fund pedagogy, programming, or activities that 'espouse diversity, equity, and inclusion.'"
Additionally, notes Mortenson, the bill states that American history cannot be taught in any narrative that contradicts the “universal principles stated in the Declaration of Independence," which would seemingly ban a large number of aspects of American history from being taught.
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Mortenson was also shocked by language in the bill barring university boards or presidents from delegating any aspects of hiring decisions to faculty members, while further stating that they are "not required to consider recommendations or opinions of faculty" when making hiring decisions.
"On the faculty hiring one, I keep thinking I must be misreading something or missing some other aspect of the administrative/governance workings of state education in Florida," he writes. "But man the language seems unequivocal."
Taken as a whole, Mortenson argues that DeSantis' bill is "A road map for wrecking one of our great state systems of higher education."
