‘A Reign of Terror’: DeSantis’ ‘War on Woke’ Backfires after Two College Scandals

DeSantis is now on the defense after reporting from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune exposed a book dump of hundreds of library books at New College of Florida and a University of Florida President he chose was exposed for excessive spending.

DeSantis appointed six of his allies to the school’s board of trustees in January of last year, who introduced a wide-ranging restructuring of academic courses, canceled initiatives around DEI, and eliminated the gender studies major.

“In Florida, we have re-focused higher education on the pursuit of truth, academic rigor, and preparing students to be citizens of the republic,” DeSantis wrote in a June 1 X post. “When I took office, New College was a hive of woke ideology. We eliminated “DEI,” abolished the gender studies program, and installed new leadership. Now, colleges like New College are teaching students how to be productive citizens—not running an indoctrination camp.”

In his failed bid for the presidential nomination, the governor targeted K-12 and college DEI initiatives. At New College, DeSantis canceled meals during Ramadan, the holy month of fasting for Muslims.

After investigating, the American Association of University Professors voted to sanction New College. The AAUP has added only 12 other colleges to its sanctioned list since 1995.

The report said the college crackdown “reflects not only a blatant disregard for academic standards of governance and academic freedom but also a discriminatory and biased assault on the rights of racial minorities and LGBTQ communities.”

“DEVELOPING: New College of Florida dumped hundreds of library books this afternoon.  The school also emptied the college’s Gender and Diversity Center, tossing hundreds of their books,” Walker wrote in the X post.

“In the past, students were given an opportunity to purchase books that were leaving the college’s library collection,” Walker wrote.

Amy Reid, a faculty chair and representative to the board of trustees, was blindsided by the disposal of the books. She compared it to throwing away democracy. Reid said she wanted a period of mourning for the lost texts. “I want to do that for books because books are what matter,” said Reid.

“In the ‘free’ state of Florida, where the freedom to learn goes to die. This is the equivalent to burning books — it’s backwards, politically motivated, and a preview of Project 2025. Don’t let this happen to America. Trust me; you don’t want this extremism nationwide,” wrote Florida Rep. Anna Eskamanai in response to Walker’s X post.

“These messages are coming from DeSantis’s appointed and approved leaders, and the governor should just go ahead and admit he wants to be the dictator that Trump wants to be, because that’s what this is,” said Hinson.

“This shameful book dump is just the latest chapter in this Republican regime’s war on books and ideas. How insecure do you have to be to ban books on gender and women’s studies. They’re just plain weird,” Hinson said.

“It is important to understand that the disposition of materials is a necessary process in libraries, and ensures that our collection remains relevant, up-to-date, and in good condition for our community’s use,” said Richard Corocan, the university’s president and a vocal DeSantis supporter.

“We abolished the gender studies program. Now we’re throwing out the trash,” wrote Christopher Rufo, a board member appointed by DeSantis in an X post responding to Walker’s post.

The second-wave feminist book Finding the Movement was also thrown away. The school has since disputed that the book dumping was not an erasure of LGBTQ+ books.

The governor has backed many laws seeking to remove books from school libraries that contain “pornography and prohibited materials harmful to minors.” These policies have often targeted books on LGBTQ+ people, race, and other themes deemed inappropriate for children by conservatives.

According to The Independent Florida Alligator, Sasse had more than tripled his office’s spending, forcing the DeSantis administration to call for its own investigation into the UF president’s “exorbitant spending.”

Sasse tore through $17.3 million in his first year of office, triple that of his predecessor. Student journalists also found Sasse spent siphoned millions into secret consulting contracts and cushty jobs for his former congressional staff and Republic cronies, including remote positions.

After only 17 months on the job, Sasse cited his wife’s health as the main reason for resigning. While this decision was met with applause for putting his family first, Sasse may not have been telling the whole story.

Hosseini, a direct appointee of DeSantis, tried to impose restrictions on Sasse’s communications, including with DeSantis, Florida’s higher education agency, and the Legislature. Sasse continued to defend the spending scandal on social media.

Florida attorney John Morgan said he donated $1 million to UF. Morgan wrote in a social media post: “I won’t give one penny more until an investigation is completed to tell us how this happened and most importantly, is it criminal? Makes donors like me feel stupid. Every donor, past and future, needs to be interested in this gross grifting.”

“It’s the wolf guarding the henhouse,” Hinson said. “The Republican party loves to claim fiscal responsibility but this is a Marie Antoinette style of spending and it’s just appalling. Florida Republicans only care about the rules when they don’t apply to them.”

She said: “[Republican appointees] just lined their pockets without any care for the students, staff or professors. Morale is down. Imagine the programs we could have brought here with the kind of money [Sasse] has just literally thrown to his cronies. We could have done some wonderful things.”

LeRoy Pernell, a law professor at Florida A&M Law, said: “What we are witnessing in Florida is an intellectual reign of terror. There is a tremendous sense of dread right now. People are intellectually and physically scared. We are being named enemies of the state.”