Florida Board of Governors raises concerns over order singling out Middle East issues for review in state

Courses at Florida’s 12 public colleges and universities will be flagged for review if they address any topics related to the Middle East, namely Israel and Palestine.

This edict by the Florida Board of Governors is causing concern across the state, with some saying it is another example of intellectual meddling that they say is demoralizing and problematic.

Before the fall semesters begin, faculty members must submit their syllabi so they can be entered into a database. Keyword searches will flag a course that uses the words “Israel, Israeli, Palestine, Palestinian, Middle East, Zionism, Zionist, Judaism, Jewish, or Jews” when describing the coursework.

A faculty committee will then review textbooks and other materials for “anti-Semitic material and/or anti-Israel bias.”

In an email to university and college presidents clarifying the edict, Chancellor Ray Rodrigues makes no mention of anti-Muslim or anti-Palestinian sentiment.

“There is little concern about the existing anti-Palestinian sentiment. This creates a very real chilling effect for Muslim students and faculty,” Florida Gulf Coast University philosophy professor Kevin Aho said in an email to WGCU.

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Aho chairs FGCU’s Department of Communication and Philosophy. On Wednesday, he told faculty that this was “disheartening for those who address the social, historical and moral dimensions of the Israel-Palestine conflict in class.”

Lyn Millner is one such professor. She teaches journalism, a discipline in which students are required to understand current events. The conflict between Israel and Palestine has dominated the news since more than 1,100 Jews were killed by Hamas on October 7. The Israeli ground and air attack in response has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians, an average of 250 a day, which is more than any other major conflict of the 21st century.

“There are concerns. One of them is how anti-Semitism or anti-Israel bias will be defined or assessed,” Millner said. “As we’ve seen, bias can sometimes be obvious. It can also be complicated, which is why opposing sides reading a fact-based article often claim bias when the facts don’t match their beliefs.”

Millner anticipates disagreements because the topic can be highly emotional.

“Don’t get me wrong, anti-Semitism is real,” she said. “There is no question that we all need to fight anti-Semitism, as well as ensure that all students of any religion, race, sexuality, etc., feel included and safe in our classrooms.

“I think my colleagues and I recognize that we have a great responsibility. We have to choose our words carefully. We have to limit the damage as much as possible. But many of us find this strange, and some people claim that academic freedom is being violated because of these gray areas.”

An FGCU official said the university’s leadership team is reviewing the data request from the State University System of Florida.

One person who says academic freedom and First Amendment rights could be trampled on is Wilfredo Ruiz, public relations director for CAIR Florida (Council on American-Islamic Relations).

“What worries us most is that the State dares to enter the classrooms and condition the academic freedom that our universities have valued for generations,” said Ruiz.

Last year, CAIR filed a complaint against the chancellor when he, through Gov. Ron DeSantis, ordered the disbanding of pro-Palestinian groups on college campuses. The case was dismissed this year after the state admitted it never complied with the edict.

“So this goes beyond being a Muslim or Islamic thing. It’s really a call to all Floridians to care about the academic freedom that has guaranteed academic excellence at the University of Florida for generations, and scientists seem to be happy to flush it down the toilet at the drop of a hat,” Ruiz said.