TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) 鈥 For years, political scientist Scott Yenor has advocated for overhauling colleges and universities, which he has argued undermine traditional American families by encouraging women to pursue careers and put off childbirth.
Now Yenor may get a chance to implement his policy proposals after Florida Gov. appointed him to the board of the University of West Florida, a public school in Pensacola with about 14,000 students.
The Republican governor's of Yenor and four others to the this week comes two years after DeSantis of another public school, , in what critics called a hostile . Within weeks, New College's new board the sitting president and then replaced her with a and ally of the governor.
A professor at Boise State University, Yenor has written extensively on what he sees as the dangers of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in higher education as well as the declines of traditional marriage and birth rates in the U.S. He's also a former fellow at The Heritage Foundation, which proposed as a for a hard-right turn in American government and society.
Speaking at the 好色tv Conservatism Conference in 2021, Yenor detailed what he sees as the 鈥渆vils鈥 of feminism, labeled 鈥渋ndependent women鈥 as 鈥渕edicated, meddlesome and quarrelsome鈥 and decried colleges and universities as "the citadels of our gynecocracy鈥 鈥 a form of government run by women.
鈥淚f we want a great nation, we should be preparing young women to become mothers,鈥 Yenor said, "not finding every reason for young women to delay motherhood until they are established in a career or sufficiently independent.鈥
Yenor argued that higher education 鈥渄elays growing up,鈥 saying that college and universities are 鈥渋ndoctrination camps鈥 that society should de-emphasize in order to make progress on 鈥渇amily matters."
鈥淓very effort must be made not to recruit women into engineering, but rather to recruit and demand more of men who become engineers. Ditto for med school and the law and every trade,鈥 Yenor said.
鈥淚f every Nobel Prize winner is a man, that鈥檚 not a failure. It鈥檚 kind of a cause for celebration," he added.
Yenor did not respond to questions from The Associated Press about his past statements, but said he supports DeSantis' education agenda.
鈥淎n education system shapes the culture. Our current education system, with its divisive DEI policies and ideological monoculture, has produced an ever-worse culture,鈥 Yenor told the AP in an email, saying Florida's education system is better off because of DeSantis' policies.
Chasidy Hobbs, an Earth and environmental science instructor and president of UWF's faculty union, called the comments 鈥渄isheartening鈥 and 鈥渙ffensive.鈥
鈥淢y most important work of my life was being a mother,鈥 she said, 鈥渨hile also working as a professional woman in a career that I find almost as important as motherhood 鈥 to help the future generation learn to think for themselves.鈥 But she added that she looked forward to working with the new board.
Julia Friedland, the governor's deputy press secretary, said the new board members will 鈥渂reak the status quo鈥 and 鈥渉elp refocus the university on the core mission of education."
She did not respond to questions about Yenor's previous statements on women in higher education.
In articles and speeches, Yenor has labeled DEI as a 鈥済rave and gathering danger to national unity and state governance," called for eliminating certain disciplines like African Diaspora Studies and said even departments of History and English could be on the chopping block. He's also advocated for sex-segregated education and called for banning state employees from collecting data on the basis of race or sex.
Yenor and the other new appointees to UWF's 13-member board must be confirmed by the Florida Senate.
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This story rewrites the headline to correct that Yenor is advocating for prioritization of motherhood.
___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
