Florida college professor fights DeSantis’ anti-woke law …

The MAGA-fied GOP transgressions read like the recitation of the Seven Deadly Sins from my old Baltimore Catechism. You might remember them: pride, envy, anger, lust, gluttony, sloth, and greed. It is fair to say that our current president and many of his mini-me followers manifest each of these, without shame, in their professional and personal lives. It seems they lacked the conscience-building education that many of us, born of immigrants, received in our homes and churches. At St. Frances Cabrini School, his act would have received multiple cracks across the knuckles with a ruler. Our nuns were not very woke when it came to discipline.

The nuns of my youth drilled us each morning in their theological version of Final Jeopardy. They asked the questions; you answered them correctly, or you sat down and wrote what you missed 10x in perfect cursive. These were Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, followers of Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first canonized American saint. They served our community, which was made up of mostly immigrant and first-generation families. My Dad, born in Italy, was naturalized — his brother and sister were birthright citizens. We were typical of families who sent their children to “sister school” in our parish. Our consciences were formed there, helped by daily prayer and the crack of that ruler.

Looking at dear leader and his disciples, they practice their catechism vices like altar boys taking a nip of sacristy wine. The thrill of getting away with it far exceeds the buzz. For the GOP, especially now under the unprincipled tutelage of Donald Trump, sin is a virtue– vice is nice. They wallow in all-out racism, misogyny, and hateful agendas against those they deem unworthy. Diversity is to be throttled. Their world is white, male, nasty, and greed-ridden. They cater to wealthy friends, often overlooking their transgressions for a “taste” of their fortunes. Known as the donor class, their sins are almost always forgiven, covered up, and billed at the usual rate.

A case in point is now occurring in Florida, where Ron DeSantis gets to play god. College professor Vinita Prabhakar ran afoul of DeSantis’ 2022 anti-woke Act for discussing a story which supposedly made one student “mildly uncomfortable.” She was dismissed from her position as an English professor at South Florida State College after a student emailed a complaint to her about the assignment. South Florida State College president Fred Hawkins got wind of the complaint and immediately ordered her suspended and refused to renew her contract. The professor is suing Hawkins and the college Board of Trustees, claiming their actions were politically motivated and violate her First Amendment rights. The lawsuit contends that the anti-woke legislation was specifically written for students in grades 1 through 12, and the professor had taught the offending story for the preceding 10 years with the school’s knowledge and approval. It appears DeSantis and the college president had other things in mind, and the email was simply an excuse:

The state’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, has championed efforts to quash what he has deemed liberal indoctrination in education. For instance, he pushed a parental freedom law that limited instruction on gender and sexuality in elementary and middle schools, prompting some districts to remove books featuring L.G.B.T.Q. characters.

NYT, “Florida Professor Fired for Assigning a Profane Story, Lawsuit Says,” by David Ovalle

Let’s start there. Hawkins, a supporter of Gov. DeSantis, was appointed to the position at the college despite his lack of credentials for the position:

Mr. Hawkins, a former state representative and a DeSantis ally, was named president of the public community college in 2023…

The selection process drew scrutiny because Mr. Hawkins held no advanced college degrees and became eligible only after the board of trustees lowered the position’s educational requirements. At the time, one trustee acknowledged to The Tampa Bay Times that the board was expected to appoint a Republican and that he had concerns about a potential left-leaning president’s adherence to “woke” ideology.

Announcement

NYT, “Florida Professor Fired for Assigning a Profane Story, Lawsuit Says,” by David Ovalle

The choosing of Ms. Prabhakar as a target for DeSantis’ push to gain political favor as part of the right-wing extremist campaign against what they define as “woke” is telling. “Woke,” as defined by the right, is an updated version of “political correctness,” which they detest because it recognizes social awareness of diversity and social justice. The right has tainted the word by implication that it supports progressive ideology. At its core, however, the term is at the cutting edge of Republicans’ push against diverse issues such as DEI, LGBTQ+ issues, discrimination based upon color and gender, and religious preference. It is the basis for the Trump Administration’s views on immigration, which support an unprecedented breach of fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution. That Ms. Prabhakar is a woman, of Indian-American origin, and a professor in higher education cannot be dismissed as merely coincidental. In addition, the elevation of Mr. Hawkins to a position for which he was unqualified supports the conclusion that, as her lawsuit contends, the decision to fire her was purely political.

The contention by the defendants in the suit is that the short story “Bettering Myself”, written by Ottessa Moshfegh, violates the anti-woke legislation passed by DeSantis because the story contains profanity, references to substance use, and sexual content, suggesting the college president hadn’t read much Shakespeare or Edward Albee. Heck, Florida may have unintentionally earmarked portions of the Bible for its own ungodly “wokeness.”

The introduction to the lawsuit states the heart of this case:

College classrooms are supposed to challenge students. That is especially true in a college English course, where students learn to read critically, write effectively, and engage with literature that may be unfamiliar, difficult, uncomfortable, or even unpleasant. The First Amendment protects that process because it “does not tolerate laws that cast a pall of orthodoxy over the classroom,” where truth is discovered not by “authoritative selection,” but “out of a multitude of tongues.”

Prabhakar v. Hawkins, et al.

Picking on a professor’s choice of assignment at a small community college suggests that DeSantis and his unqualified, hand-picked lackey are, like all bullies, using their power to cover their own dearth of cognitive ability. In an attempt to limit academic freedom, they chose to avoid the prospects of challenging an institution of higher learning with a hefty endowment and a long list of wealthy alums. They didn’t expect the pushback they received from the plucky college professor with meager resources and a giant cause. Ms. Prabhakar’s suit has a solid chance of succeeding, and a generous judge may decide to scuttle Florida’s ill-conceived legislation clearly designed for political purposes. In any case, the notoriety the case has created nationally emphasizes the lack of educational rigor and independence that perverts the Florida State higher education system. President Hawkins would not have the accreditation to be principal of Mother Cabrini grade school, but has the authority to subvert academic freedom at a taxpayer-funded university in his home state.

Ah, but then in Florida under the authoritative rule of Ron DeSantis, orthodoxy is the point, a multitude of tongues is a problem, and merit is always a matter of convenience.