Helen Capote | Contributing Writer
Amid the several controversies involving Florida’s Board of Trustees, members of the FIU chapter of the United Faculty of Florida chapter still cling to hope.
Since 1976, UFF-FIU has regarded as one of its principal aims the preservation of academic freedom.
However, UFF-FIU first became the center of controversy when the X account Documenting Israel posted test questions from the FIU Terrorism and Homeland Security that were deemed to be “anti-Semitic.” FIU responded by launching an investigation into the affair.
At a holiday party last December, faculty gathered to discuss these issues.
This event had a dampening effect on its members compared to previous UFF-FIU events due to new regulations by the Board of Trustees regarding Antisemitism reviews at the university.
PantherNOW used the occasion to discuss this matter upon being invited to this event.
Recently, the FIU Board of Trustees asked faculty to volunteer on anti-Semitism committees to review courses and textbooks but faculty refused. Despite this, the UFF remains strong.
Marc Weinstein, UFF-FIU treasurer and professor in the College of Business, said the people behind the initiative to review material have no interest in anti-Semitism.
“What they’re interested in is owning the libs or finding some way to get some political advantage,” says Weinstein. “It’s really an effort to bait faculty because now we’re in a situation that we want to oppose this really unjustified intervention into academic affairs.”
A second issue the UFF faces is new state legislation requiring 60 percent of faculty union members to sign off as members to avoid decertification. Many Florida universities have failed to reach this threshold, however, FIU is not one of them.
“So imagine what will happen if you don’t have a faculty union. Faculty may theoretically have the freedom to express their views, but they may not have the protection,” Weinstein said.
PantherNOW spoke with Tania Cepero Lopez, the Vice President of UFF-FIU, regarding BOG Regulation 8.003, Textbook and Instructional Materials Affordability and Transparency.
This includes a form that FIU faculty must sign stating that they cannot teach or mention anything outside of their course curriculum.
Faculty speculate that this is connected to the controversy that occurred when a student posted a test question that was viewed as Anti-semitic. Florida Governor Ron Desantis has now enacted this new policy.
“This form seems to imply that you have to have everything set for the semester, and any future assignments or any future reading that you add even after the deadline, is also included in the attestation. So there is a concern that it’s being used as a punishment tool, or as a repression tool,” says Lopez.
“There might be readings that are Anti-Semitic that are important to include, to combat,” Lopez said. “This is ridiculous. We should not be signing these forms. And I’ve heard from people who don’t want to sign the form.”
Some faculty believe it infringes academic freedom, therefore, not signing the forms. However, the consequences are unknown.
“Also, because I grew up in Cuba, so I know repression,” Lopez said. “I know what it is to have no academic freedom, to have no freedom of expression. I’m like, don’t worry about it. You call me into the office. I’m gonna bring my union rep, and I’m gonna explain to you why this reading is necessary, and I will talk to the media, and if you try to fire me, I will fight it, right? But other people are in more vulnerable positions, more concerned.”