The AAUP’s Kelly Benjamin talks to Michele Rayner, a member of the Florida House of Representatives, about attacks on academic freedom, the motivation for anti-critical race theory bills, and the state of the broader political situation in Florida.

Episode update: When the episode was recorded, a bill Kelly and Rep. Rayner discussed that would make public college presidential searches in Florida secret had not passed the state legislature. It has since passed and Florida governor Ron DeSantis is expected to sign it. See the article below for more information.

Episode Links:

• "Florida legislature passes bill making public college presidential searches confidential," Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, Higher Ed Dive
• "Late bill change would weaken tenure at Florida universities, faculty say,"  Divya Kumar and Ana Ceballos, Tampa Bay Times
• "Florida Memorial University Lays Off Four Tenured Professors, Discontinues 16 Degree Programs," Alex Deluca, Miami New Times