Legislation that would survey university students on whether competing ideas and perspectives are presented and welcomed on campus passed its first committee stop today. Sen. Ray Rodrigues (R-Fort Myers) says the bill is needed to ensure students are hearing competing viewpoints.
"Students need to be asked in your college classroom are you being provided an environment that provides for viewpoint diversity and intellectual freedom," said Rodrigues. "Without asking that question we won’t have the data to know if what we know is happening in other states is happening in Florida.”
Opponents say the optional survey could skew the results. And lawmakers in Colorado, which approved a similar bill, said the results were not helpful in understanding the climate at universities.
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