Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis visits campus, promotes conservatism

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis reaffirmed conservative ideals regarding education, immigration and healthcare in an on-campus fireside chat with former U.S. Secretary of State and Hoover Institution Director Condoleezza Rice on Friday.

“I appreciated the chance to see two influential leaders participate in constructive dialogue in front of Stanford students and alumni,” event attendee Colin Weis ’28 said. 

“You could have the best Constitution in the world, you could have the best Declaration of Independence in the world — these things don’t run on autopilot,” DeSantis said. “They require every generation of Americans to defend these principles, to apply those principles faithfully, to defend freedom.” 

DeSantis also defended Florida’s primary education system, calling it “the most robust in the country” while criticizing California’s. He pointed to Florida’s successful initiative to remove cell phones from classrooms, a measure that led other states to follow suit.

DeSantis attributed California’s bottom 12 ranking in educational performance to teacher unions. 

“Some of [the union’s] resolutions have nothing to do with education. It’s like validating every far-left [ideology],” DeSantis said. “That’s not their role to indoctrinate. The goal is to educate.” 

DeSantis also touched on higher education, acknowledging the various pathways to career success, ranging from university education to vocational training. He lauded Florida’s latest initiative to reform the “Marxist-communist” New College by bringing in conservative reformers as a “massive program” for speech and debate.

“I want to see a variety of viewpoints. I want to see people’s orthodoxies challenged,” DeSantis said. “But in reality, the muscle memory has gone in one direction on the left for so long that we [have] to consciously try to figure out how you are going to do things.”

DeSantis framed himself as a proponent of free speech rights but also argued that students should be held accountable for their actions done to infringe on others’ rights on university campuses, critiquing campus demonstrations following the war in Gaza.

“In Florida, you can say what you want but your conduct — you will be held accountable for your conduct,” DeSantis said. “You don’t have a right to commandeer the lawn at your university for your political agenda.” 

DeSantis further spoke on healthcare, asserting that the majority of healthcare issues are due to a large federal government forcing doctors to deal with too much red tape. He highlighted a price transparency reform initiative in Florida as an example. 

DeSantis commented on national disputes and critiqued the Biden administration in regards to border control. He rejected the idea of foreigners feeling entitled to come to the U.S. and said there was no such thing as being a citizen of the world. 

According to DeSantis, increasing speaking engagements at other nations has increased business interest and notice for his state, a trend DeSantis said has resulted in Florida’s growth in population and economically. 

“When you say United States to [foreigners], they think New York, California, those are usually the two that they think of. Now, they’re starting to think more about Florida, and part of that is us going and doing kind of the diplomacy and the business development that we’ve been able to do,” DeSantis said.

“Being able to meet [world leaders]… has definitely put Florida on the map,” DeSantis said. 

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