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Florida universities might be in a 'brain drain' following state's 'war on woke'

Published July 11, 2023 at 8:20 AM EDT
Joyce White, center left, whose daughter Lola is a third-year biology major at New College of Florida, protests along with other parents dressed as handmaids from Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale," ahead of a meeting by the college's board of trustees, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, on the school's campus in Sarasota, Fla. (Rebecca Blackwell/AP)
Joyce White, center left, whose daughter Lola is a third-year biology major at New College of Florida, protests along with other parents dressed as handmaids from Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale," ahead of a meeting by the college's board of trustees, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, on the school's campus in Sarasota, Fla. (Rebecca Blackwell/AP)

University leaders in Florida are growing increasingly concerned about losing staff. Their concern comes as the state’s Republican Gov. and presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis continues his “war on woke” in the state, with colleges one of his preferred targets.

University faculty are reporting that they are losing staff at a high rate and struggling to fill vacant positions that were once covetous.

Here & Now‘s Celeste Headlee speaks to The Tampa Bay Times’ higher education reporter Divya Kumar about her reporting on this issue before speaking to University of North Florida lecturer Carolyne Ali-Khan, who has decided to leave due to the pressure on college faculty.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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