The State of Higher Education : Challenges and Resistance

This presentation examines the ongoing legislative assaults on higher education in Florida, focusing on laws that jeopardize academic freedom, student rights, and labor unions. We analyze how these actions reshape public colleges and universities throughout the state, highlighting resistance strategies, including legal challenges, faculty and student activism, and union organizing.

Drawing on key legislation, court cases, and case studies from Florida institutions, we explore the significant challenges confronting academic communities and the various forms of resistance emerging in response. Finally, we consider the broader national implications of these legislative trends as similar policies gain traction in other states.

About our speaker:

Dr. Leandra Preston is a Senior Lecturer in the Women's and Gender Studies program at the University of Central Florida (UCF). She serves as a union Senator with the United Faculty of Florida. Leandra began her tenure at UCF in 2001 as a Visiting Instructor in English after completing her MA in Literature. In 2004, she started teaching Women's Studies (now Women’s and Gender Studies), becoming the first full-time instructor of Women’s Studies at UCF. In 2015, she earned her PhD in Texts & Technology, focusing on gendered bodies and technology.

A longtime feminist activist, Leandra founded the Animal Safehouse Program of Brevard in 2004, a nonprofit organization that provides foster care for pets of people escaping domestic violence. Preston has been recognized throughout her career for her commitment to service and education. In 2012, she received the Florida Campus Compact Service-Learning Faculty Award, acknowledging her efforts to foster community engagement among her students. She received numerous teaching and service awards throughout her career, and her teaching philosophy emphasizes the classroom as a transformative democratic space.

The State of Higher Education in Florida and beyond: Challenges and Resistance