Devoe L. Moore Center:  Facilitating Change On and Beyond Campus

Viewpoint Diversity 

The Tallahassee Democrat published a timely commentary written by DeVoe L. Moore Center researcher, Eli Mckown-Dawson on the problem of political viewpoint diversity on college campuses. The title, “When it comes to views of campus climate, political ideology is important,” perfectly outlines the preliminary research that Eli has been conducting at the Center on existing campus climate surveys and viewpoint diversity. 

His article (and related research) was inspired by Governor Ron DeSantis’ bill from June 2021 which required that public universities implement an annual survey to assess viewpoint diversity and intellectual freedom. 

As a DMC Public Policy researcher, Eli analyzed previous research surveys that looked at the demographics of college students, such as gender, race, major, and position within their university. Then, Eli focused on how these demographics impacted the degree of openness in students expressing their political beliefs and ideologies on college campuses. In this commentary, Eli draws connections from three national surveys in order to deduct further causes of self-censorship. 

Eli Mckown-Dawson has plans to further explore this area of research specifically as it relates to Florida State University’s campus climate working directly with Center director Dr. Samuel Staley. The DMC is very excited to see what this research reveals about Florida State University’s viewpoint diversity. In the meantime, read his op-ed here!
 

Groundbreaking Internship Program Launched

Nearly ten years of steady, intentional work building a high-impact internship program paid off in late 2021 when the DeVoe L. Moore Center entered into a partnership with Reason Foundation to provide research support to the internationally recognized think tank. A grant allowed the Center to hire two part-time undergraduate policy analysts to work directly with research teams within the foundation. 
 

While the positions were open to all Florida State Undergraduate students, the competitive hiring process led Reason to hire two former DMC undergraduate research assistants. Danielle “Dani” Waidley has focused her research on school choice and its impacts on property values (see here and here) and has joined Reason’s education policy team. Mae Baltz joined the Foundation’s land use and transportation policy team. Mae’s research at the Center has focused on the impact of local regulations on sober homes, culminating in an op-ed published by the Palm Beach Post. (See also her oped in the Tallahassee Democrat on vaccine mandates here).

The grant is an important step in providing a direct “classroom to workplace” pipeline for students engaged in policy research. Students frequently testify to the value of the Center’s programming in developing and building valuable professional skills. Partnerships with organizations like Reason Foundation add another component to the immersive, experiential learning mix that, as one student said, “added rocket fuel to my degree.” 

Staff Spotlight: Yolanda St. Fleur 

This week, the DeVoe L. Moore Center would like to highlight the dedication and commitment of Yolanda St. Fleur: a third-year student pursuing a dual degree in Political Science and Music at Florida State University. Yolanda has been a key component of the DMC since the Fall of 2020. 

Yolanda’s research interest centers on public policy. When Yolanda joined the DMC, she worked with the College Town team to gather permitting data to help build a database for future CollegeTown projects. She then worked under Dr. Taylor within the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program where she presented her research on CollegeTown housing affordability. She is now working as an individual researcher by taking a more in-depth look at CollegeTown and options for student housing. 

Yolanda has a myriad of academic and professional responsibilities. In addition to her involvement with the DMC, Yolanda serves as Director of Student Policy with the Torchlight Campus Policy Center, Parliamentarian for Tau Beta Sigma, and is a Combined Pathways Student (Master's in Applied American Politics and Public Policy). 

In her free time, she enjoys wood-burning and playing the flute! The DMC is grateful to benefit from Yolanda’s hard work. We look forward to witnessing her bright professional future.