Mind: Gov. Hochul has the correct as the state’s main executive to maintain government entities operate effectively
New York Governor Kathy Hochul properly exercised her rights as the country’s main professional when she asked the City University of New York to modify a evidently intellectual employment posting for a” Arab Studies” teacher.
The job starting at Hunter College took an apparent position against Israel, referencing” resident colonialism”, “genocide”, and “apartheid” – words pro-Palestinian protesters frequently use when criticizing the Israeli state.
In response, Gov. Hochul asked for the posting to be taken down and it is currently in the process of being rewritten, as The College Fix recently reported.
But the intervention has drawn criticism from several academic freedom groups, who miss that the governor is in charge of all state entities and is right to exercise her authority over them.
Robert Shibley at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression said Hochul acted similarly to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who wants to get rid of ideological classes.
He challenges the argument that “diverse theoretical and methodological approaches” would truly be accepted, as the job posting stated.
” Maybe it was, maybe not”, Shibley wrote in an article. ” But one can’t make that determination simply based on the language of the listing, and there is no reason to believe that the governor of New York is ( or should be expected to be ) the best-qualified person to make that call”.
However, this is in contradiction to FIRE’s position on diversity mandates, which is that they threaten academic freedom. When it comes to DEI statements, FIRE correctly assumes that they will be used to weed out applicants on the basis of ideology.
The free speech group also correctly assumes that the language used in student handbooks when it comes to harassment, bias reporting, and free speech are indicative of how a university will act. It also has previously asked governors to intervene in public university matters concerning free speech.
Shibley also wrote:” Even if one believes a particular group of public college faculty is, itself, making decisions that harm higher education, as DeSantis and Hochul both seem to believe, there’s one thing we can know for sure: transferring that job to politicians will only make it worse”.
But the state entrusts the governor, as the chief executive, with significant influence on CUNY– she appoints 10 of the 17 trustees.  , The appointment power makes sense since the state created CUNY and provides about 36 percent of its funding.
Another leading academic group does acknowledge the course description is ideological and should be rewritten– but also misses the importance of the governor’s power.
Writing at Heterodox Academy, Joe Cohn argued:” ]w ] hile it would have been reasonable for the Board of Trustees to insist that the post be rewritten, the government cannot intervene in the hiring process”.
” Institutions of higher education cannot be subject to government bans on ideas and remain institutions where open inquiry is a reality”, Cohn, a former attorney with FIRE and the ACLU, argued.
But the CUNY is” the government” – in particular, it is an extension of the state of New York. As established earlier, it receives a significant amount of funding from the state, is overseen by the state, and was created by the state.
If the board of trustees can insist the post be rewritten, which it has, it is appropriate for the state’s chief executive to insist on it as well. Institutions of higher education, when they are public, are arms of the government. Public institutions of higher education do not exist to serve the professors and their pet theories and ideological aims. They exist to serve the public.
Furthermore, Hochul has a responsibility to ensure her state and its entities, including CUNY, thrive. Given the Trump administration’s interest in cracking down on antisemitism, it is reasonable for her to be concerned that the feds would view the Hunter College job as evidence for a potential investigation.
There is also a 146-page report detailing problems of antisemitism in the city college system, created at the request of Hochul.
Governor Hochul is the chief executive of the state – she has not just the right, but duty, to ensure government entities operate in the best interest of all citizens.
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IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: Governor Kathy Hochul speaks to the press. Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul
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