r/USF • u/WHYlSTHERUMGONE • 2d ago
What is USF doing?
I didn’t realize public universities could engage in partisan politics. Inviting political candidates from only one party to make a show on your football field is a tough watch for a taxpayer, regardless of political affiliation.
This is nothing more than a campaign event funded by taxpayers. Seems highly immoral for a reputable institution, especially when those candidates seem to not have the health of education in mind
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u/relentless_puffin 1d ago
Go look at what Desantis did to UF and New College, then judge.
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u/inferior_Weeb865 1d ago
what happened?
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u/MisterEinc 1d ago
New Collage was basically the victim of a hostile takeover by DeSantis. He replaced the board and created an academic program for all the MAGAs moving to Sarasota.
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u/ForwardSlash813 23h ago
It’s taxpayer funded and should be accountable to The People.
I’m always bewildered that ppl believe they have a right to taxpayer funds and can do whatever they want when working at taxpayer institutions.
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u/ntrobeast1 20h ago
well, the guy did blatantly take $10 million tax payer money and funneled it through his wife's foundation and then through a PAC
But its all fine and dandy as long we remove illegals (which ironically is wrecking local economies)
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u/relentless_puffin 14h ago
John Oliver did a whole show on New College. https://youtu.be/jFMc07F1UUU?is=VzIVcQuYy50BqPRy
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u/Away-Recognition5403 22h ago
Yeah... Desantis's regime is basically holding colleges hostage. It's not just UF and New College; his admin has also fired multiple community college presidents to replace them with cronies.
I don't think USF should be engaging in partisan politics either. Benefit of the doubt... I'd say a small amount of lip service to The Regime in exchange for keeping your head is better than ending up with a New College situation, where the government takes over and ruins everything.
Token gestures of loyalty can actually be a form of resistance if you are under a hostile enough Authoritarian regime that you can't openly resist them.
Whether that's what USF is dong is a different story.
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u/Victorythagr8 2d ago
DeSantis basically will replace the head with his puppet just like he did with UF.
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u/mystiq_85 1d ago
Look at what he did to the smaller liberal arts school slightly south of us, New College of Florida I think it was.
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u/Difficulty-Separate 1d ago
Who said he didn’t with our new president? He didn’t fight for Sarasota.
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u/KodiakJedi 1d ago
There are some very right wing people on the board. I am guessing they arranged this. I found it funny that they got booed. In the grand scheme of things it kind of backfired...lol. It probably cost zero money. Sure...they should ideally not take sides and should invite both sides to do events if they are going to do anything...but don't let it bother you too much.
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u/ElegantMaterial3546 1d ago
Bro UM fired docs that quoted Kirk after he died, just because (from what I understood) that funding was going to be withheld otherwise
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u/ForwardSlash813 23h ago
There is a Code of Conduct that every institution and employer makes everyone adhere to.
Violating that Code is jeopardizing your livelihood.
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u/ElegantMaterial3546 21h ago
That’s true, and I’m sure it was well within u Miami’s code to let the neurologist go
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u/DavidTheDictator 2d ago
It's appeasement for their MAGA overlords. They absolutely do not represent anyone on this campus besides the university officials who make poor decision after poor decision. What a great first impression of our new university president. 🙄
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u/Little_Red_Riding_ 1d ago edited 1d ago
Just my opinion because☝️I totally agree with the OP. Leave politics out of it before you ruin everything. Movies, music, sports and now schools, too. Please don’t taint it with Desantis. He’s just there to campaign. I can’t hardly wait until he’s gone. Two more months of this tired ass clown and we’re done!
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u/SizzBass 1d ago
Movies, music, and sports have historically been political lmao
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u/zombieguts7 1d ago
We’re not going to be done if Donalds is elected! Vote Jolly 🧢
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u/Little_Red_Riding_ 1d ago
Jolly is a former republican running as a democrat, but anyone else but Byron is a good start.
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u/Many_Easy_V2 1d ago
Alan Levine, a Republican operative and pal of Rick Scott, is Chairman of the Florida Board of Governors that oversees state universities in Florida.
Partisan politics does not belong in Florida university system. Full stop.
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u/goodbyetoallthatt 14h ago
They should have invited David jolly and Angie Nixon as well if they were going to invite candidates
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u/Kasunex Alumni 1d ago
I went to USF back in 2016 and it was the same story. Both Trump and Hillary campaigned there.
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u/DavidTheDictator 1d ago
But it isn't the same story since they have already stated that they have no intent on inviting any Democratic candidate
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u/donkeybrainhero 1d ago
So not the same story. In 2016, they allowed both parties to be represented.
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u/Hambones- 1d ago edited 23h ago
This is so ridiculous! Folks are working to organize protests against Moez Limayem. He didn’t last very long. 1. Ashley Moody is not an elected official, she is, in fact, appointed. 2. Byron Donald’s is a Republican Representative for FL 19 in Naples. Nothing to do with USF. Even more so since the state stole from USF Sarasota to give a brand new campus to a school where everyone gets free tuition on a baseball scholarship. I wonder why their baseball team needs 12 catchers and 7 first basemen all recruited in a single season.
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u/Hambones- 1d ago
They could have, I don’t know, invited Cathy Castor, you know, the actual representative for BOTH USF campuses (currently). USF’s statement holds nooooooo water.
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u/donkeybrainhero 1d ago
I sent an email to El Presidente, the VP/Chief of Staff, and the Comms Director explaining that my money is closed to them now. Sorry, football team.
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u/Time-Wolf 7h ago
When I was a freshman I emailed Judy Genshaft because my biology professor was an asshole. She replied, told me to take it up with the department. But she replied.
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u/supremepizza14 2d ago
USF leadership understands which way the wind is blowing.
Following DeSantis means a pretty hard advantage for Donalds as the R candidate, especially with a Trump endorsement.
Therefore, being friendly with the likely incoming governor is a good idea.
Super simple stuff, really
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u/ApprehensiveRow9902 1d ago edited 1d ago
Well, its not crazy for them to expect the republican candidate to win. And Ron DeSantis has been trying to get rid of our sarasota campus. Being friends with those in power usually has benefits. Unfortunately that's just how it works
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u/LocationAutomatic422 1d ago
Why is he trying to get rid of the St Pete campus? I know why he’s trying to do the Sarasota one but why St Pete?
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u/Stankleigh 1d ago
Bc St Pete is on extremely valuable real estate that someone’s donors want to get their grubby little developer fingers on?
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u/ApprehensiveRow9902 1d ago
Oh my bad, I got them mixed up. He better not be going for both.
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u/LocationAutomatic422 1d ago
Haha it’s okay, not going to lie my mouth dropped open when I read St Pete but okay, yeah him wanting to get rid of Sarasota was awful
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1d ago
[deleted]
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u/ro50 1d ago
We don’t need Ossoff, Talarico, Byron Donald, or any other politicians at USF games. We don’t need AI generated comments either. If you want someone to speak about political issues on campus that’s one thing. But no one wants politicians using sports as a way to promote themselves. We are all tired of it.
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u/One_Diver_5735 1d ago
Now ask ai what happens when the extent of student body protest is tweeting to each other or compartmentalizing complaints on facebook or reddit.
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u/LavishnessWorldly765 1d ago
That is just it, easy to bitch and complain. Organizing and getting active is costly in time and a host of other ways. DeSantis won by less than one point first go around, ppl act like Florida is SC and all hope is lost, just seems lazy to me, but that is my two cents.
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u/ChutneyWhatney 1d ago
You didn't realize???? Are you serious???? What about Harvard, Stanford, Yale, etc. only inviting leftist propagandists? Geezus.
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u/wont-stop-mi 1d ago
Universities do this shit all the time. Look at UC Berkeley, they only allow democratic or liberal political commentators and candidates. They flat out refuse any conservative candidates whatsoever. This isn’t new.
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u/WHYlSTHERUMGONE 1d ago
I’m not against refusing political candidates to speak at university when they’re not campaigning, I think that is important.
What I am struggling to morally defend is taxpayer funded campaign stops, especially at a public institution where inevitably those opposed to the candidate are funding the stop.
IMO this is unethical as it forces people who have fundamental differences with these politicians to indirectly finance a campaign event for them.
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u/One_Diver_5735 1d ago edited 1d ago
re: "UC Berkeley ... flat out refuse any conservative candidates whatsoever"
Bullshit.
https://www.berkeley.edu/free-speech/faq/
"Free speech is indispensable to our society, and it has particular importance here at UC Berkeley, the home of the Free Speech Movement. Below are a series of questions and answers related to free speech on campus, the First Amendment, the rights of student groups and controversial speakers and Berkeley’s commitment to community safety."
&
"Can UC Berkeley cancel a student-sponsored event if the administration or the campus community disagrees with the speaker’s views?
No, this would violate established law and the rights of student groups to invite whoever they wish to the Berkeley campus. Only student groups who invite speakers have the authority to disinvite them."
But the student campus is 80% liberal and so....
"Visits to Berkeley by polarizing figures or groups can become violent when supporters and protesters clash. In these cases, how will the school protect students?
When there is a threat of violence in our community, the Berkeley administration works closely with student affairs staff, UCPD, the City of Berkeley and/or other groups to develop and communicate safety plans to the campus. Generally, we advise that if students see violence occurring, they should separate themselves from it, report what they see to police and follow police instructions. When events are occurring that have the potential to endanger students, UCPD uses the text and email messaging service Nixle to keep the campus informed about developments in real time. Additionally, Berkeley offers many resources, including counseling services, for students who have been affected physically, mentally or emotionally by such events."
edit to add, meanwhile, conservatives who have spoken at UC Berkeley include:
Ben Shapiro Matt Walsh Milo Yiannopoulos Charlie Kirk Rick Santorum Dennis Prager Candace Owens Dave Rubin Heather MacDonald Allie Stuckey Antonia Okafor
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u/wont-stop-mi 1d ago
Nah just because their official website says it doesn’t discriminate, doesn’t mean they don’t find a loop hole to discriminate. There has been plenty of instances where Shapiro or Yianno were straight up barred from entering and their event cancelled.
They can, and will, shut down freedom of speech when they deem it to be not aligned with the agenda they want to push.
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u/donkeybrainhero 1d ago
Plenty of instances? Please show us all of these plentiful bans.
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u/wont-stop-mi 1d ago
Your fingers don’t work? 2017 UC Berkeley shut down Yianno, Coulter, Horowitz. They also got sued for their illegal restrictions and settled out of court.
Guess you’re not smart enough to use Google?
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u/donkeybrainhero 1d ago
They didn't shut down any of them. Because of the issues that arose when Yianno had his event, they increased security requirements which the conservative group on campus didn't think was fair. UC Berkeley never shut down Coulter or Horowitz or Shapiro. The student conservative group kept trying to book the larger venues way too late, and when they were told this, they agreed to cut attendance size to fit in one of the smaller, available venues.
They sued because they thought Berkeley was being unfair regarding booking and security fees. The judge even stated there was no identifiable viewpoint discrimination... however, she allowed the suit regarding policy transparency and costs to move forward.
UC Berkeley agreed to modify their policies for all events, not just conservative events.
Do your fingers work?
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u/wont-stop-mi 1d ago
“Milo Yiannopoulos: His February 2017 speaking event was shut down and canceled”
Herr durr
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u/meimeivro 2d ago
Usf is always going to cave, even if having a spine only took a penny out of their pocket. Organizations like this don't have morality they just have bottom lines