Hating democrats is one thing, but making education a battlefield for culture-war nonsense is another.

Donald Trump is doing just this: “I will sign a new executive order to cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, transgender insanity, and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content on our children,” he vowed at his rally on July 27 in Minnesota.

His plans also include changing the college accreditation process, dissolving the Department of Education and getting rid of gender and race discussion, the Associated Press reported.

Even if he does not keep every promise, these efforts pose a serious threat to American schools.

Related: Panel at USF discusses Trump’s pledge to end the Department of Education

Trump has yet to show proof of this so-called ‘woke indoctrination’ in our education system. This is a myth used to mask anti-intellectualism and is hurting our education system by violating academic freedom and scaring away faculty.

Anti-intellectualism is a negative feeling or distrust of intellectuals’ views and approaches, according to Merriam-Webster.

Teaching students about ‘woke’ topics is not pushing an agenda, it is simply education.

Richard Manning, a professor in the department of philosophy, teaches students about concepts like feminism in his classes. 

“I don’t indoctrinate students,” Manning said. “I teach them some theories and arguments. They can draw their own conclusions. I certainly don’t evaluate them on whether they agree with me or not.”

Topics like feminism are critical for higher education, because being educated on history and social structures allows citizens of a democracy to become authors of their own fate.

“Feminism is one of the most important intellectual and social developments in modern history and I won’t allow students who come through our university to be ignorant of it if I can help it,” Manning said.

Related: Trump’s selection for Secretary of Education will hinder college students

Steve Lang is the president of the USF chapter of the United Faculty of Florida (UFF). This chapter represents USF faculty and professionals in bargaining their terms and conditions of employment. 

Lang said he doesn’t know what the professors’ agenda would be if there were one.

“If you’ve ever been to meetings where a department puts a curriculum together, the faculty can get into a great battle over what the standards mean, how you meet them and how you teach it,”  Lang said. “These debates demonstrate how it is simply not true that there is an agenda.”

Trump wants American schools to promote a patriotic attitude and will block federal funds that support the teaching of “gender ideology or discriminatory equity ideology”, according to section three and four of the executive order.

Purposefully blocking research and education on these topics conflicts with professors’ academic freedom, Lang said. 

Academic freedom is the freedom of a professor to discuss all relevant topics in the classroom and pursue research without institutional interference, according to article 5.2 of the USF Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Maintaining intellectual freedom is crucial in preventing educational censorship and propaganda.

“UFF’s main job is to negotiate a contract [with professors] and then enforce that contract,” Lang said. “One of the most important parts of this contract is academic freedom.”

As a philosophy major, I have never experienced a professor openly telling the class their political views or telling students what to think. 

Related: Some USF students reconsider their careers after Trump’s  DEI cuts

“You might see a wide variety of backgrounds among the faculty,” Lang said. “Some are more opinionated and some less opinionated. And that’s why you go to a university, to see a wide variety of opinions in the content that is taught.”

And one thing is sure – faculty are leaving the state. 

A super-majority of 642 surveyed Florida faculty planned to apply for jobs in other states or leave academia due to changes in tenure and academic freedom, according to a 2023 survey administered by UFF.

“I don’t think they’re going to stop college intellectuals from doing what they want to do,” Lang said. “But they may not do it in Florida.”

If censoring professors to the point of migration isn’t anti-intellectualist, I don’t know what is.

Instead of fighting the ghost of woke indoctrination, Trump should advocate for paying teachers better and putting money into schools instead of taking money out.

“You can’t just go and just get rid of things to make them better,” Lang said. “If you have an argument, then make the argument in a way that’s not just a political panic.”

If it is woke to encourage students to learn about a variety of subjects and opinions, then make USF woke again.