UF's ban on professors testifying against state to be investigated, says accreditor
Source: Tampa Bay Times
The accreditor said she will be seeking information about a decision that blocked three professors from testifying in a case that challenges the state’s new voting-rights law pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
TALLAHASSEE — The body that sets the accreditation for the University of Florida said Monday it will be investigating the state’s flagship university over its decision to bar a trio of faculty members from offering expert testimony in a legal case against the state, to determine whether “academic freedom” and “undue political influence” standards were violated.
The public university said it blocked three professors from continuing to serve as expert witnesses in a case that challenges the state’s new voting-rights law because their testimony could pose a “conflict of interest to the executive branch of the State of Florida and create a conflict for the University of Florida.”
Belle S. Wheelan, the president of UF’s accrediting body, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools’ Commission on Colleges, said the decision may place the university’s actions in violation of “undue political influence” and “academic freedom” accrediting standards.
“Those are the two that we are going to be looking into. If we find something else, we can always look into them as well,” Wheelan said in an interview with the Times/Herald on Monday.
Read more: https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2021/11/01/ufs-ban-on-professors-testifying-against-state-to-be-investigated-says-accreditor/
I think I just heard that UF is reversing its decision and will now allow the faculty members to testify. If true, guess they didn't want this situation to affect their accreditation.
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