Three Florida profs sue Board of Governors over tenure changes
Three Florida professors filed a lawsuit that challenges recent changes to tenure, which they say will reduce their academic freedom to speak and teach about controversial issues.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis previously criticized the use of tenure at the state’s universities, noting that it decreases a school’s accountability to the public.
While many have criticized the practice of tenure in higher education, saying that it protects “incompetent faculty,” several professors are pushing back against efforts to weaken its influence.
Three professors at public universities in Florida filed a lawsuit on July 30 that challenges recent changes to tenure, which they say will reduce their academic freedom to speak and teach about controversial issues without fear of repercussions.
The plaintiffs presented a defense of tenure in the lawsuit, warning that its absence or diminution may compromise the truth-seeking abilities of the state’s leading academics.
“Without the protections of tenure, professors’ speech is at risk of being chilled, the progress of intellectual inquiry will slow and students will not be exposed to cutting-edge or novel thoughts and ideas,” the lawsuit reads. “Professors who are subject to dismissal at will, or whose contracts are subject to non-renewal, will be reluctant to pursue new, bold and controversial ideas which may challenge the prevailing orthodoxy.”
The law in question, passed in 2023, bans universities from conferring lifelong tenure, instead restricting faculty to tenure contracts that must be renewed with the university every five years.
The three professors, Sarah Hernandez, Steven Willis, and Adriana Novoa, hold tenure at the New College of Florida, the University of Florida Levin College of Law, and the University of South Florida, respectively.
The lawsuit claims that the Florida Board of Governors overstepped its legal bounds for imposing regulations on educational institutions, alleging that the 2023 law “usurps the constitutional powers and duties of the Board of Governors and is void ab initio.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis previously criticized the use of tenure at the state’s universities, noting that it decreases a school’s accountability to the public.
“There are some people that think you have a right to have some taxpayer institutions with no accountability. That they should just be able to do whatever they want,” he said during a speech in 2023. “That is not happening in the state of Florida.”
The governor has advocated for a wide range of education reforms in recent years, expressing hope that they may increase the appeal of Florida’s universities for prospective college students.
“The more we’re centering higher education on the integrity of the academics, excellence, pursuit of truth, teaching kids to think for themselves and not try to impose an orthodoxy, you are going to see people flooding into these institutions,” he said. “Academia, writ large, across the country has really lost its way.”
Campus Reform has reached out to the three plaintiffs and Gov. DeSantis for comment. This story will be updated accordingly.