"Woke" or wokeish college classes at Florida universities are being removed from the core curriculum, to comply with a new state law, writes Vimal Patel in a New York Times op-ed. The law bars core classes at state universities that teach "identity politics," “distort significant historical events” or teach that “systemic racism, sexism, oppression, and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States.”
At Florida International University, most of the classes affected were in the social sciences, such as Intercultural/Interracial Communication and Labor and Globalization, he writes. Some professors rewrote class descriptions to avoid being de-listed.
Students can still take the classes as electives, but enrollment usually drops if a course doesn't count to fulfill graduation requirements. And low-enrollment classes may be discontinued.
Ray Rodrigues, chancellor of the state university system, says general education should be "broad and foundational." He added that Americans' confidence in higher education has fallen because some think it's "more about indoctrination than education."
"The Florida Board of Governors eliminated Principles of Sociology from the core requirements, alarming sociology professors," writes Patel. Sociology had “been hijacked by left-wing activists,” said Manny Diaz, Jr., the state education commissioner.
It's not just Florida, writes Patel. Gender studies came under attack at the University of Wyoming, Texas A&M regents told the president to eliminate “low-producing” programs, including a LGBTQ minor, and University of North Texas removed “race” and “gender” from some course titles.
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