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Speaking Out

Florida’s Anti-Intellectualism

At the end of the 2006 Florida legislative session, Governor Jeb Bush signed a bill that prevents faculty from teaching or conducting research in so-called “terrorist states.” “Travel to Terrorist States,” effectively shuts down all educational activities in Cuba, Syria, Iran, North Korea, and the Sudan. These are the countries currently listed by the Department of State as “state sponsors of terrorism.”

The list of research and teaching activities terminated by this new Florida law is not finished yet, but we already know enough to assess a few effects.

For example, this law brings to an end research in marine biology on the coral reefs between Miami and Cuba. As a result, the conservation efforts to protect biological diversity, which depend on this research and hold the potential for benefiting the United States and Cuba, as well as other parts of the world, come to an end.

On July 1, all scientific research in the region on climate change, the spread of disease, the effects of oil spills, and agricultural productivity, among other things, was abruptly terminated. Researchers had to scramble to collect all data and records and shut down operations within 30 days.

The same thing happened to historical and social research projects. Longitudinal studies of the causes and effects of migration patterns, requiring interviews across generations and spanning decades, are suddenly destroyed by politicians. The University of Florida, with the largest collection in the world on Cuban history and documents, immediately shut down operations that build its collection. At Florida International University’s Cuban Research Institute research has become impossible.

The Florida government's contempt for academic freedom and constitutional principles adds to the pernicious effects of this bill. Imagine working in a state where politicians place boundaries on research and scholarly investigations. Imagine a state where people do not want to know what is currently happening in the countries that concern them most. Florida is digging its own academic grave with this legislation. The horizons of intellectual activity are narrower when we look across the sea from Florida. The mindlessness of such policies, in an era of international peril, affects everyone.

The United Faculty of Florida stands in opposition to this attempt to stifle learning. We ask all educators and citizens to stand with us for the value of education.

Tom Auxter is a philosophy professor at the University of Florida and president of the United Faculty of Florida, a joint affiliate of the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers.