The professor, an expert on the opioids crisis, was placed on paid administrative leave and investigated, raising questions about the extent of political interference in higher education, particularly in health-related matters.

The professor, an expert on the opioids crisis, was placed on paid administrative leave and investigated, raising questions about the extent of political interference in higher education, particularly in health-related matters.

  •  stopthatgirl7   ( @stopthatgirl7@kbin.social ) OP
    1•1 year ago

    I misread that 30% as 3% at first, and was like, “That’s not so ba…oh. OH. Oh shit.”

    The thing is, to folks like DeSantis, that’s probably a good thing. They don’t want people to be educated. They want to scare off anyone who might challenge the points of view they want taught. Chilling effects like this are a bonus to them.

    •  HandsHurtLoL   ( @HandsHurtLoL@kbin.social ) 
      3•1 year ago

      I fully clutched my pearls when I heard that 30% figure. You just simply cannot run a large state, public university to scale when you’re down that many critical staff members. Something is suffering there.

      I go back and forth whether it’s really the case that politicians like DeSantis are big-picture minded enough to actively downgrade the quality of education across a state like Pol Pot did in Cambodia, to discourage critical thinking and increase dogmatic loyalty. Instead, I think it’s more likely that people like DeSantis are myopically cruel and just want to hurt a subset of people so badly that they don’t see the larger consequences.

      Anyway, regarding Texas A&M, it’s quickly about to no longer be the largest university in America in the next two years. The former president was so unpopular there and she introduced such huge changes to the institution (a big reason why I left) that they just can’t be undone with a new university president. This is such a mess that I can’t imagine who on God’s green earth will take on this role. Chancellor Sharp is unlikely to hire anyone with a spine to dissent to him and the good ol’ boys who exert quiet influence over the school. And anyone with half a lick of ethics and integrity is going to see the institution as radioactive at this point. I can’t help but predict that only grifters will self-select into the president’s chair. A&M is going to race itself to the bottom.