University changes course; professors may testify in lawsuit
The University of Florida is reversing its position, saying it will allow three professors to testify as experts in a lawsuit challenging a new state election law
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Reversing its previous position, the University of Florida said Friday that it will allow three professors to testify as experts in a lawsuit challenging a new state election law that critics say restricts voting rights.
Last month, the university prohibited Dan Smith Michael McDonald and Sharon Austin from testifying in the lawsuit brought by civic groups, saying that such testimony would put the school in conflict with the administration of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, which pushed the election law.
In a letter to the campus, university president Kent Fuchs said he is asking the office responsible for approving professors’ outside work to greenlight their request to serve as expert witnesses in the litigation. Fuchs said the outside work would have to be on the professors’ own time and not use university resources.
Attorneys representing the professors said they were assessing their options following the reversal.
“While the University of Florida reversed course and allowed our clients to testify in this particular case, the fact remains that the university curtailed their First Amendment rights and academic freedoms, and as long as the university’s policy remains, those rights and freedoms are at risk," David O’Neil and Paul Donnelly said in a statement.
The university's announcement came after the union for faculty members urged donors to withhold contributions and scholars and artists to turn down invitations to campus until university administrators affirmed the free speech rights of school employees.
Not allowing them to testify would be "an attack on all of us,” said Paul Ortiz, a history professor who is president of the union chapter at the university.
Hours later, after hearing about the reversal, Ortiz called the announcement, “a really positive step forward," and said the union chapter's executive committee will meet to decide how to proceed.
“I’m delighted to see this,” Ortiz said. “We want some kind of guarantee that this isn’t going to be on a case-by-case basis — if another faculty member says, ‘I want to engage in this type of activity,’ that we aren’t going to end up back in the same place.”
The union also had asked the university to issue an apology, affirm its support for voting rights and declare that the school's mission is for the public good.
Fuchs and Provost Joe Glover said in a letter to the campus community earlier this week that the school will immediately appoint a task force “to review the university’s conflict of interest policy and examine it for consistency and fidelity.” On Friday, Fuchs said a preliminary recommendation will be ready by the end of the month.
Also this week, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools’ Commission on Colleges told news outlets the organization planned to investigate the university’s previous decision to prohibit the professors from testifying.
The University of Florida's president answers to its board of trustees, which has six members appointed by the governor and five appointed by the state university system’s board of governors. The board of governors, in turn, has 17 members, 14 of whom are appointed by the Florida governor and confirmed by the state Senate These offices have been in Republican hands for many years.
DeSantis’ office, in a statement earlier this week, denied being behind the decision to block the faculty members’ testimony.