Panel Discussion: Corporatization of Higher Education

We had a thought-provoking panel discussion concerning the power plays going on in Florida higher education.  Following a reading of the play, "The XXX-Rated Genius: Corporatization of American Higher Education", the audience was treated to a lively Q&A session.

Jeff Grieneisen and Courtney Ruffner teach locally at the State College of Florida (SCF). In January, the State College of Florida’s Board of Trustees voted to eliminate multi-year contracts at SCF. Grieneisen and Ruffner filled the audience in on the status of forming a union to give SCF faculty a voice in the decision making process and why these contracts are so important. They also spoke about the make-up of the Board of Trustees and their almost complete lack of background in higher education.

Rhana Bazzini provided an historical perspective. When she was college-age in New York City, her peers were attending the City College of New York for free. That kind of governmental investment in education has been redirected, and now students are graduating with unprecedented debt.

Ralph Wilson, a co-founder of FSU’s chapter of UnKoch My Campus, explained how the Charles Koch Foundation uses their funding to require and monitor ideological compliance on campus. According to UnKoch My Campus, the Koch brothers and their network of front groups work to undermine environmental protection, worker’s rights, health care expansion, and quality public education, to name just a few.  They have donated to hundreds of colleges and universities in the name of philanthropy. But these donations are given with strings attached. Their donations influence college research, the professors hired, and the coursework being taught, in order to advance their ideologies and corporate profits. In this short, camera-phone video, Ralph explains how they play both sides of the tenure issue to their advantage.

Anna Maria Adds Its Name to the List

A couple of weeks ago, Ruth Rauch and Diane Canniff spoke to their Anna Maria City Commissioners. They requested a resolution in support of a Constitutional Amendment to combat the political spending and power of non-human "persons". Doug Copeland, Commission Chair, asked that the proposal be placed on the agenda for the very next meeting. Ruth was ready for that meeting and here's her report:

At the meeting, we had a good turn out of support. Commission Chair Copeland expressed agreement with the spirit of Move To Amend's request but wondered if action was appropriate at the local level. Commissioner Woodland expressed that he had some concerns about whether the 10th amendment to the Constitution had some bearing on this issue.

I was asked to respond to these concerns in my comments. I stated that although Memorial Bills in the Florida legislature had been proposed, there appeared to be little political will to take up the matter. I pointed out that donations to legislative political committees appear to dictate the priorities of the legislature. I also mentioned that two Supreme Court justices have spoken out in opposition to their own Court's Citizens United decision.

In the end, without further discussion, the Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the resolution. It will be adopted without any modification to the resolution we submitted without any further action required by the commission at its next meeting on March 24. I am so pleased we had a good outcome. I must say, activism can be very satisfying

Am I going to attend that meeting to make sure it gets done? You bet!