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Professor Clay Calvert, UF Professor of Law Emeritus & Brechner Eminent Scholar Emeritus, will speak at the Florida Free Speech Forum at the Aloft Hotel, 3743 Hull Road (behind the Hilton UF Conference Center) in Gainesville at noon on Monday, March 13, 2023. 

He will speak on “Student Speech Rights and Social Media: The Case of the Cursing Cheerleader.”

Calvert is lead author of the undergraduate media law textbook, Mass Media Law, and is the author of Voyeur Nation: Media, Privacy, and Peering in Modern Culture.

To attend register at: floridafreespeechforum.org

You may register to have the lunch preceding the talk (at 11:30 for $20) or just attend the talk at noon at no cost.

Looking ahead tow next month’s forum on Monday, April 10, each year the April forum features the winner of UF’s Brechner Center for Freedom of Information annual award. 

The winner will be announced at the end of March and will be featured on the website.

by Melissa Hawthorne, ACLC Co-Chair, and Bobby Mermer, PhD, ACLC Coordinator

University towns face unique challenges when it comes to maintaining affordable housing. As student populations grow without adequate campus support, housing stress is placed on the surrounding communities. Rental units are built to cater exclusively to undergraduate students, and end up sitting largely vacant, while wealthier undergraduates gobble up single-family homes, displacing the locals. 

With 29% of Alachua county residents now categorized as low-income (making less than 60% of the area median income) or cost-burdened (paying more than 30% of total income on housing), it is easy to see that Alachua county is facing a workforce housing crisis: nearly one third of the population is struggling to afford housing in the county where they work. 

by Joe Courter

Here we are in the “information age,” defined as “a historical period that began in the mid-20th century. It is characterized by a rapid shift from traditional industries, as established during the Industrial Revolution, to an economy centered on information technology.”  

The heart of information technology is communication, and the dictionary says that is “a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs or behaviors … the imparting or exchanging of information or news.”

by Anonymous

I work for the University of Florida. I used to be so proud of that. Unfortunately, I am not so proud now. 

You see, I’m being bullied. I’m being bullied by our anti-woke governor. His tactics include daily attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion, interfering in curriculum matters, hiring presidents behind closed doors, and retaliating against those who dare to disagree. This bully is backed by his minions in the state legislature, and they have joined together to form an anti-woke cabal, laying waste to enlightened policies, progress, and social justice.

The bullying is taking its toll. Those who have not already fled, wear their sadness like a badge. You can see it so clearly. Everything they say is scrutinized and analyzed, as they are tasked with wiping away legitimate history. Imagine someone who is so ashamed of their history, they want it erased! I know another regime in 1930s Germany that tried to erase history, that tried to ban books, that tried to create “enemies” so they could gain followers. The danger in not knowing history is that it can be repeated. The evil of the past can haunt us in real time. All it takes is for good people to stay silent.

I always think…well, this time he’s gone too far. I always think that tomorrow people will turn against him for his fascism in the name of freedom. But It never happens. The bully keeps us fearful, watchful, and quiet.

Now, there is HB 999. What is this you ask? It’s a way of dismantling Florida’s higher education system and remakes it to appease our fascist leader. It ends diversity programs, bans majors and minors, and shifts vast amounts of power to university boards. It even proposes leaving all faculty hiring to boards of trustees and will allow a faculty member’s tenure to be reviewed “at any time. This bill is set to be effective on July 1, 2023. There are no checks and balances. The governor is free to appoint anyone he wants and is free to have those appointees Implement whatever policies he dictates. Now is the time to ask yourself—Has he gone too far?

UF Community Coalition protests on Feb. 6, first day of UF President Ben Sasse

The text below was originally a press release distributed in advance of the Feb. 6 protest. It was written by a united coalition of University of Florida undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff, alumni, retired faculty, and community members led by Aron Ali McClory, Kestral Ward, and Rachel Hartnett.

Nearly four months ago, Ben Sasse was coronated as the next president of the University of Florida, after a presidential search shrouded in secrecy and suggestive of state-level political meddling. Gov. DeSantis has recently targeted academic freedom (see” tinyurl.com/Iguana1552) and student health care (see: tinyurl.com/Iguana1553) in higher education, with UF posing no opposition. Students, faculty, and staff have been left to navigate a tumultuous terrain of political ideological warfare occurring on our campus, without guidance, protection, or even comment by our university leaders. Once again, the campus community cannot trust Ben Sasse. 

by Joe Courter

On Monday, Feb. 6, I was on my bike heading to Tigert Hall for the protest rally marking the beginning of the Ben Sasse administration as president of the University of Florida. I began reflecting on how many times I had been to those steps for organized rallies and protest. (See “NO WE WON’T BACK DOWN” on page 20 which addresses the Feb. 6 rally’s purpose and demands.)

The first that came to mind was the anti-apartheid protest campaign, trying to get UF to divest its holdings in South Africa investments in the mid-80s. For one 40-day period those steps were occupied constantly, with a big banner proclaiming “Mandela Hall.” The rallies were large enough, and well supported enough, that the Krishnas moved their daily lunch serving over to Tigert. 

The March issue of the Iguana is now available, and you can access it here! If you want to get your hands on a hard copy, check out our distro locations here.

• 36 activities to celebrate Women’s History Month
by Kamrin Baker | GoodGoodGood | Feb. 14 | tinyurl.com/Iguana1533
March is Women’s History Month, an annual celebration that recognizes and celebrates the contributions of women. Throughout history, women have been erased and excluded, and women of color, transgender women, and queer women have been subjected to more harmful oppression than their white cisgender sisters. Women’s History Month is a time to confront the ongoing injustices that plague women and a time to celebrate and rejoice in women’s shared humanity.

• An activist group is spreading misinformation to stop solar projects in rural America
by Miranda Green and Michael Copley  | KTEP | Feb. 18 | tinyurl.com/Iguana1532
A rancher was intrigued by an energy company’s offer to lease his land for a solar plant, however soon after he received the offer, organized opposition with connections to fossil fuel worked to ban big solar plants from being built in the area.