Amid the revelations that the government watches nearly everything we do, it may come as a surprise that states have actual laws ensuring government transparency.
Called the Sunshine Law in Florida, this legislation helps shine a light on the doings of our government. After the NSA revelations, it comes as no surprise that some legislators are trying to roll back this law.
In Florida, there is one such attempt coming from Democratic Rep. Dave Kerner of Palm Beach County. His proposed law would keep potential university presidents’ names private.
Basically, if a school is looking to hire a new executive, applicants would be shaded from the Sunshine Law until at least 21 days before officials make a final decision.
Kerner cited a paper from the University of Houston Law Center that states the publicity surrounding the selection process of university presidents discourages some from applying. Without the Sunshine Law, he argues, more well-qualified applicants will seek the position, and schools will have stronger candidates to choose from as a result.
The Sunshine Law hasn’t stopped well-qualified applicants in the past, however. Eric Barron was chosen as president of Florida State University in 2010, and his impressive credentials include previous positions as the dean of the Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas at Austin and director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., according to the FSU website.
With one paper based on two schools as evidence, Kerner seeks to hide nearly the entire presidential-seeking process. Granted, there is still the 21-day window for interested parties to get to know the candidates, but that is not enough time for adequate information to be obtained, not to mention, the process would be almost over at that point.
The government answers to the people, not the other way around. Kerner’s bill would skirt the public’s ability to evaluate the candidates who may potentially govern a university.
In the American democratic process, we don’t hide candidates for office until three weeks before election time. Of course, the election of a university’s president is not the same as electing a representative or the president, but that is no excuse to hide these candidates from Floridians.
University presidents make important decisions that involve students, communities and the scarce dollars they get paid with.
“I’ll never doubt the ability of UF and other universities to attract top candidates, and I’m not suggesting we don’t have the ability to attract great candidates,” Kerner told The Gainesville Sun.
If you don’t doubt it, then why hide them?
Secrecy encourages corruption, not good practice. The only thing this law would do is make the presidential selection process less transparent and give the community less say in who is ultimately chosen.
So who will this law benefit? As it seems with most new government policies, it will only benefit the corrupt with connections. After all, those who would be discouraged by transparency in the presidential selection process probably have something to hide in the first place.
It’s important that government agencies be held accountable to the people they work for. That’s how a democracy works. Education, though not inherently democratic, stands as the institution it is today because of the democratic process in America.
It is unfair to the community, the faculty and the students to hide who their next chief administrator will be. It discredits their ability to evaluate and comment on their future president.
We’ve got enough secrets. Let’s not start keeping any more.
Justin Jones is a UF journalism senior. His column runs on Thursdays. A version of this column ran on page 6 on 11/14/2013 under the headline "Prez candidates should appear in Sunshine"
