VOA教育报道2024--Professors’ Group Speaks Out about Changes at Florida College

Professors’ Group Speaks Out about Changes at Florida College

　　College professors and their students often say they should be permitted to pursue knowledge without too many restrictions¹ from the government.

　　One organization that supports the idea of academic freedom is the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). The AAUP is a non-profit group based in Washington D.C. that aims to support academic freedom and tenure². The group is concerned that national and state political leaders are interfering³ too much with colleges and universities.

　　AAUP expresses concern

　　In early February, the AAUP spoke⁴ out about what it said were attempts to control "what may be said, taught, or thought" in American colleges and Universities.

　　It pointed⁵ to hearings at the U.S. Congress in December that brought the presidents of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania to Washington. They each were asked if they would punish speech calling for genocide against the Jewish people.

　　In the days and weeks after the hearing, the presidents of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard stepped down from their jobs. Some said the answers they gave to Congress played a part.

　　At first, Harvard president Claudine Gay received support from a number of Harvard professors. But she decided⁶ to leave her job after being accused of plagiarism⁷ in her academic writing. After Gay left her position, the AAUP spoke out about the way influential⁸ people worked to push her out.

　　Irene Mulvey is the head of AAUP. She said the way Gay was pushed out of her job "(did) not bode⁹ well for academic freedom."

　　Research into New College of Florida

　　On February 26, AAUP released a statement about its concerns over academic freedom. It said actions at the New College of Florida, a small school in Florida's State University System, did not meet "widely accepted standards of academic government."

　　The group said Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, had changed the college's top leadership group to restrict academic freedom. AAUP described some of the changes that began in early 2023 in a report released last December. The report is called "Political Interference and Academic Freedom in Florida's Public Higher Education System."

　　After studying the report, AAUP's top leaders, known as the governing council, voted to speak out against, or sanction, what it called "an unprecedented¹⁰ politically motivated takeover" of the school. The group has only sanctioned 12 other universities in its history.

　　The December report said DeSantis targeted New College of Florida because he believed it was too "woke." The report says conservatives now define the word as: "politically liberal or progressive...especially in a way that is considered unreasonable¹¹ or extreme."

　　The governor appointed a group of six new people to the college's board of trustees. The board is a college or university's top leadership group.

　　That group pushed out New College of Florida's president and worked to restrict the kinds of study programs the school could offer. The new trustees also worked to change the way professors applied¹² for tenure, which guarantees those who have it a job for life. Many of the new trustees had written papers and made comments criticizing critical race theory (CRT). The theory centers on the idea that racism¹³ is systemic in the country's institutions and that most social interactions can be explained by race.

　　The board members also spoke against DEI, or diversity, equity¹⁴ and inclusion, a movement aiming to change how society is made up.

　　No longer safe

　　One law professor in Florida, LeRoy Pernell, told AAUP what was happening in the state was a "reign¹⁵ of terror." Pernell teaches law at Florida A&M University. That term was first used to describe the French Revolution, which took place more than 225 years ago.

　　New College is a state school, which means Florida provides part of its budget and it is governed under state laws. For years, New College had been permitted to be "quirky." That means it welcomed students and professors who had unusual interests and wanted to follow study programs outside of normal ones.

　　Many students who felt uncomfortable at more traditional colleges went to New College of Florida and said they felt happy and safe. LBGTQ students say they chose the school because it was open to those who did not follow traditional sexual or gender¹⁶ ideas.

　　Elizabeth Leininger is a science professor. In a 2023 story, she called New College "one of the most unique places ... that exists in American higher education."

　　The AAUP talked with professors at other Florida universities who said they were concerned about the changes at New College of Florida. They said professors are worried about their own ability to seek academic freedom. Some are looking for jobs in other states.

　　Carolyne Ali-Khan is an education professor at the University of North Florida. "These governmental attacks from the State of Florida have made us unsafe," she told the AAUP.

　　Kenneth Nunn is a former law professor at the University of Florida. He said good job candidates who are Black are no longer considering Florida schools, "because they see attacks on CRT as attacks on what they do."

　　What comes next?

　　In its report, the AAUP said it offered the chancellor¹⁷, or top leader, of the Florida College System, a chance to present Florida's side of the story. The chancellor, Kathy Hebda, said no because, she said, the AAUP would not "fairly and fully¹⁸ consider any testimony¹⁹."

　　When the sanction came out, a representative from New College of Florida noted²⁰ that the AAUP's decision has no ability to force changes or prevent a university from operating. In a statement to the Tampa Bay Times, New College spokesman Nathan March called the report an attempt to get attention.

　　The AAUP did say it is not too late to prevent what happened at New College of Florida from happening in other places.

　　"The time for intervention²¹ has not passed—yet. We call on all professional organizations, unions, faculty²², students, staff, administrators²³, and communities across the country to fight such "reforms"," it wrote. The group called academic freedom an important part of democratic societies.

　　Words in This Story

　　pursue –v. to seek something that is difficult to find or catch

　　academic –adj. related to education especially college education; something that is found in schools but not in professional life or the real world

　　tenure –n. the right to have a job for life that exists mainly in academic jobs

　　plagiarism –n. the charge of having copied someone's writings without their permission, outside of normal rules

　　bode –v. to be a sign of the future

　　standards –n. (pl.) a level of quality or ability that must be reached and maintained

　　sanction –v. to speak out against something

　　unprecedented –adj. something that has never happened before

　　quirky –adj. having unusual qualities that are not generally considered normal

1 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

2 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

3 interfering   

adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词

参考例句：

• He's an interfering old busybody! 他老爱管闲事！
• I wish my mother would stop interfering and let me make my own decisions. 我希望我母亲不再干预，让我自己拿主意。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 plagiarism   

n.剽窃，抄袭

参考例句：

• Teachers in America fight to control cheating and plagiarism.美国老师们努力对付欺骗和剽窃的问题。
• Now he's in real trouble.He's accused of plagiarism.现在他是真遇到麻烦了。他被指控剽窃。

8 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

9 bode   

v.预示

参考例句：

• These figures do not bode well for the company's future.这些数字显示出公司的前景不妙。
• His careful habits bode well for his future.他那认真的习惯预示著他会有好的前途。

10 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

11 unreasonable   

adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的

参考例句：

• I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
• They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。

12 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

13 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

14 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

15 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

16 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

17 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

18 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

19 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

20 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

21 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

22 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

23 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城