Conservative Florida Supreme Court justice to lead UF’s Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education

A conservative Florida Supreme Court justice will leave the bench next year to become the director of the University of Florida’s Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education.

Justice Charles Canady, 71, released a statement on Nov. 17, on the State Supreme Court’s website, announcing the decision.

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“It has been my great privilege to serve the people of Florida as a justice of the Supreme Court for the last 17 years,” Canady wrote. “I will always deeply value my years on the Court. But the time has come to move on to another position of public service.”

“I am eager to begin my work with the outstanding students and faculty at the Hamilton School,” he continued. 

Conservatives have long criticized higher education for not promoting diversity of thought and excluding conservatives from leadership positions. A 2018 survey, for example, found that liberal professors outnumber conservatives by 6 to 1. By contrast, liberal university administrators outnumber conservatives by 12 to 1.

Before becoming a justice, Canady served as a Republican representative for Florida in Congress from 1993–2001, where he supported conservative positions on abortion and assisted suicide. He introduced the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in 1995, and as a justice, he cleared Florida’s current six-week abortion ban.

Founded in 2022, the Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education seeks to teach students about Western civilization and the “ideas and habits of thought that founded our country and sustain our free society.”

“Now more than ever, the world needs critical thinkers filled with fresh ideas and the courage to ask bigger questions,” the school’s website says. “At the Hamilton School, we prepare you to think deeply, explore widely, speak with conviction, and lead with purpose.”

Over the past several years, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has moved to cleanse Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) from the state’s universities and promote diversity of thought.

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In July, DeSantis announced that Florida was leading the way in establishing a new accreditation agency to help the process.

“Florida has set an example for the country in reclaiming higher education—and we’re working to make that success permanent,” DeSantis said at the time. “That means breaking the activist-controlled accreditation monopoly.”

In March 2023, Florida became the second state to pass an anti-DEI law, prohibiting public funds from supporting DEI offices or initiatives.

The New College of Florida is one of only two universities that have accepted President Donald Trump’s offer to participate in a compact to remove identity-based ideology from higher education. 

Campus Reform contacted the University of Florida and the Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.