When it rains it pours. To say the least the situation at the University of Florida is untenable. UF is operating as if it were small religious school with a political bent, aka Liberty University.
When an academic institution loses its credibility and plays politics at multiple levels we assume its some small religious school or a for-profit degree factory set up by some uber-political donor.
We never would expect this at a major public institution – unfortunately, unless it is in Florida.
As I have talked about on Twitter for several days, I have a history, two decades long on the issue of trying to maintain the independence of State Universities from political forces (in both parties quite frankly, but we always knew the greater danger was from the GOP).
My fear always was about direct political interference from elected officials. We believe that *may* have happened in this case but it’s also clear that UF’s hierarchy may in fact have taken some if not most of the disreputable actions on their own volition which is even more horrifying.
UF President Fuchs and the entire board must be held responsible for the shame they have brought upon the reputation of a school that recently was named one of the five best public institutions in the country.
My view is the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) needs to take a VERY long and hard look at the University of Florida and consider the most serious sanctions if what is alleged in each of the below newspaper articles which cover multiple areas has actually happened as we believe it has.
On Dr. Ladapo:
UF fast-tracked Vaccine skeptic Dr. Ladapo for lucrative job due to political pressure
On additional professors blocked from serving as outside experts:
News stories and Editorials on UF blocking expert-witnesses in election cases:
ORLANDO SENTINEL: A choice for the University of Florida: Academic freedom or government stooge | Editorial
TAMPA BAY TIMES: UF’s big mistake on academic freedom | Editorial
SUN SENTINEL: UF attack on academic freedom exposes a partisan agenda
MIAMI HERALD: University of Florida gags three faculty members — and violates their 1st Amendment rights | Opinion
WASHINGTON POST: Opinion: Why did Florida ban state professors from challenging Ron DeSantis’s voting law?
The Florida Squeeze 
[…] President Kent Fuchs of the University of Florida, on Friday recommended reversing the university’s “conflict of interest”policy in addition to ordering a reversal on the voting rights case, but is it too little, too late to salvage UF’s reputation which has taken a major hit in the last two weeks? […]
LikeLike