The idea that Moscow, Idaho-based RedBalloon would even be considered to do the University of West Florida’s presidential search bothers me.
- Background: RedBalloon is a job board and recruiter that is officially recognized as a recruiting partner by the Association of Classical Christian Schools (ACCS). It markets itself as “the marketplace’s answer to the divisive and toxic ‘cancel culture’ invading the American workplace.” The company was founded by CEO Andrew Crapuchettes, an elder of Christ Church in Moscow. Both ACCS and Christ Church were founded by Doug Wilson, a leader of the National Christian Movement.
Why would anyone hire them to recruit a president for a public university? Answer: No one would.
Update: UWF called to tell me that RedBalloon was never considered for the presidential search…okay. Maybe the recommendation never made it out of Tallahassee.
The Rally Cry for Classical Education
There are no public universities based on classical core education, although Gov. Ron DeSantis and New College of Florida President Richard Corcoran have suggested that they would overhaul the small liberal arts college into a southern version of Hillsdale College, which has a classical core curriculum.
- The top classical education colleges are Hillsdale College (Hillsdale, MI), St. John’s College (Annapolis, MD & Santa Fe, NM), University of Dallas (Irving, TX), Thomas Aquinas College (Santa Paula, CA & Northfield, MA) and New Saint Andrews College (Moscow, ID). Doug Wilson founded New Saint Andrews.
Public universities have Classical Studies Departments, most notable being University of California, Berkeley; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; University of Virginia and University of Texas at Austin. Florida State University and the University of Florida offer robust Classics programs.
Dig Deeper: However, classical education has been a running theme in Tallahassee during the DeSantis administration. Corcoran’s wife founded a classical, liberal arts charter school, Classical Preparatory School, in Pasco County. Erika Donalds, the wife of GOP Rep. Byron Donalds, chairs the America First Policy Institute’s Center for Education Opportunity, a nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding classical education.
- Florida became the first state to require its colleges and universities to accept the Classic Learning Test for admissions, putting it on par with the SAT or ACT. Last year, DeSantis a bill that let teachers obtain a classical teaching certificate developed by the State Board of Education. Then-Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. said, “The teaching certificate in classical education bolsters our efforts to increase the teacher pipeline.”
DeSantis Unhinged
And there was DeSantis’ visit to Pensacola State College this past April. He primarily wanted to defend his wife’s Hope Florida initiative and do it in the home county of two lawmakers who were challenging his power over the Board of Trustees appointments and Hope Florida, Michelle Salzman and Alex Andrade.
However, the governor also told UWF to “buckle up.” In a rambling speech that went for over 24 minutes, DeSantis touted his higher education reforms and accused universities of having “lost their way.” He said, “They have become institutions focused more on political indoctrination rather than classical education.”
When he shifted his attention to UWF, he said, “University of West Florida, buckle up. You’re going to see a lot of changes there for the better it’s going to be. I mean, how does the most conservative part of the state have some of the most liberal programs in the state? It doesn’t make any sense.”
What didn’t make sense was his accusing the university of having “some of the most liberal programs in the state.”
- But, for the sake of argument, what if UWF did? The university has had record enrollment, tied with FSU as the third-highest ranked university under the state’s performance metric system and seen its students with national titles and awards in sports and academics. Its economic impact on our region is $1.1 billion annually.
- What damage have these “most liberal” programs done?
Saved by the Blog? Tallahassee went too far in pushing RedBalloon as the presidential search firm. Fortunately, they abandoned that weird idea.
TOP READS —THURSDAY, JULY 17
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