On Friday afternoon, Florida governor Ron DeSantis spoke in DeBartolo Hall, discussing his tenure as governor of Florida and the future of the conservative movement, as protestors gathered outside the building. The lecture was hosted by the Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government and was this year’s Jeanie Poole O'Shaughnessy Memorial Lecture.
DeSantis’ lecture
The auditorium in DeBartolo 101 was full as DeSantis took the stage around 4 p.m., with the crowd giving him a standing ovation upon his entry. Also in attendance were DeSantis’ wife, Casey DeSantis, and his six-year-old son, Mason DeSantis.
DeSantis explained his sense of conservatism is based on his “fidelity to founding principles,” and these principles serve as a “means to an end” for him to “preserve a free society” in his state. He pushed back against conservatives who only propose lowering taxes and nothing else, urging Republican officials to proactively “re-orient the institutions of the state,” instead of simply reacting to changes to the status-quo.
DeSantis outlined the priorities which he argued have made him an effective leader, the first of which he described as fighting “the pathologies of the modern American left.” DeSantis specifically pointed to the choices he made during the Covid-19 pandemic to keep schools and businesses open, as well as his feuds with teachers' unions and corporations to protect children from what he called “indoctrination.”
DeSantis also stressed the importance of conviction, arguing while politicians should listen to their constituents, they should also stand by their values.
“You cannot simply put your finger in the wind and try to do whatever you think the fleeting passions of the public may want on any given issue,” he said. “I look back at my time as governor, the best decisions that I made, decisions that saved lives, decisions that saved businesses, that saved jobs, that saved education, those decisions at the time were the most unpopular decisions.”
As a part of this philosophy, DeSantis pushed back against always trusting “experts,” arguing many so-called experts have political agendas.
“Anytime I hear ‘experts say,’ I just try to make sure I'm doing the opposite of whatever, because we have worked hard to protect our citizens from the excesses of the left,” he said.
DeSantis stressed leaders in government must produce results above all. He specifically criticized members of government who focus on entertainment or building their brand above governing.
“Are your incentives to accomplish anything? Are your incentives to build a brand, to get on cable news, to do social media posts? The incentives are all to do things that don't actually lead to any tangible positive results for the people that you represent,” he lamented.
He emphasized voters will respond more than anything to the tangible changes in their lives, citing high migration into Florida, as well as the recent increased electoral success for Republicans in Florida as evidence of his success in this. DeSantis was re-elected by an almost 20-point margin in 2022, after barely winning his first gubernatorial race in 2018, and registered Republicans now outnumber Democrats in the state of Florida for the first time ever.
“You gotta play like a champion. And when you do that, and when you produce results, the people, man, they'll walk over broken glass to support you,” he said.
At one point, when referring to the increased number of Republicans in the state, DeSantis mistakenly referred to the time he was “elected President,” prompting a laugh from the crowd. DeSantis challenged President-elect Donald Trump for the Republican nomination before dropping out and endorsing Trump after losing the Iowa caucus.
Speaking on the 2024 election results, DeSantis argued Vice President Kamala Harris lost because she failed to deliver on the issues voters cared about.
“I think what the election showed was people rejected the Biden-Harris agenda because they didn't produce good results for those folks,” he stated.
DeSantis also touted the defeat of referendums in Florida which would have allowed abortion up to fetal viability and legalized marijuana in the state, arguing both proposals were more radical than most voters wanted. In addition, DeSantis criticized the concept of constitutional amendments via referendums, arguing the language in the referendums was made intentionally vague in order to manipulate voters.
When asked, DeSantis notably said he would not accept a position in the new Trump administration, saying there were “a lot of great people” and arguing he would be most effective in furthering the causes he believed in as governor of Florida.
“I think me quarterbacking the Sunshine State is probably how I make the biggest difference,” he said.
Although there will be a Republican president, a Republican-controlled Senate and possibly a Republican-controlled House of Representatives starting in January, DeSantis expressed doubt anything would be done to lower the national debt in the coming years.
“I think it's going to be very difficult to get anything done,” he said.
Despite being a native Floridian, DeSantis picked Notre Dame to triumph over Florida State by a margin of 31-14, drawing cheers from the crowd.
Protests
As DeSantis spoke in DeBartolo Hall, a collection of student groups, including College Democrats, Students for Immigration Advocacy, Solidarity ND and Student Voices for Palestine held a protest outside on the quad.
Olivia Anderson, co-president of College Democrats, said the club decided to organize a protest because DeSantis’ “policies in Florida do not align with any of our club's values.”
Anderson emphasized that the goal for College Democrats was to stand for academic freedom.
“They can say what they want to say in there, it's a free country, they are well within their rights to do so, but we are also well within our rights to protest,” she said.
In a statement to The Observer, Connor Marrott, a board member of Solidarity ND, wrote the goal of the protest was to “advocate for democracy, civil rights and inclusivity,” adding, “we are united in our fight against oppression and discrimination.”
Editor’s note: Connor Marrott is a viewpoint columnist for The Observer.
At the protest, participants held signs supporting a wide range of causes. Some read “keep abortion legal,” “immigrants make America great,” “gay is okay,” “ban whitewashing in classrooms,” “climate change is real” and “Jesus is a liberal.”
Explaining her decision to participate in the protest, senior Sofia D’Agostino shared she was motivated by disappointment over Amendment 4’s failure to pass in her home state of Florida. The amendment, which would have created constitutional protections for abortion in Florida up to the point of fetal viability, failed due to the requirement of a 60% supermajority.
“It’s really disappointing when we see an amendment gather a 57% majority, which clearly signals it’s a bipartisan issue for so many people, but then have democracy fail actively,” D’Agostino said. “States were supposed to be able to protect this right, but it didn’t matter.”
Senior Abby Thatcher was motivated by DeSantis’ education policies.
“It’s absolutely horrible that Notre Dame thought it was okay to bring this dude here to speak about government when his policies are terrible,” she said. “As someone who has a parent who is an educator, banning books and trying to get rid of the education system is not what our country stands for.”
When the lecture event began, leadership from each of the clubs present gave speeches to the protestors.
Senior Jocelyn Limon, president of Student Coalition for Immigration Advocacy, argued DeSantis’ immigration policies stand in contrast to Notre Dame’s Catholic values. Limon stated the decision to invite DeSantis “does not represent Notre Dame’s mission to welcome all, or leadership rooted in love, compassion and commitment to the common good.” She specifically critiqued DeSantis’ immigration policies.
Representing Student Voices for Palestine, senior Jamil Allan criticized DeSantis’ restrictions on pro-Palestinian student protestors. He shared his purpose in participating was to “defend our rights to advocate, speak and stand in solidarity with those who are oppressed.”
Marrot thanked the protestors for their efforts, adding, “that man in DeBart right now has blood on his hands.” Marrot discussed DeSantis’ policies regarding LGBTQ+ youth in Florida, saying “It’s his message in Florida that you cannot be gay, you cannot be trans, and this University is sending that exact same message to us today.”
Marrot encouraged the protestors to “work with compassion with those who hate and fear us.”
In a joint speech, College Democrats co-presidents Anderson and Trista Brantley called DeSantis’ policies “a slap in the face to American and Catholic values alike.” Elaborating on Notre Dame’s Catholic values, it was noted what DeSantis stood for was contradictory to the messaging on the Sacred Heart of Jesus statue on God Quad, which reads “venite ad me omnes,” Latin for “come unto me all.”
Anderson and Brantley addressed Tuesday’s election results, calling DeSantis “just one symptom of a deep, deep sickness in this country.”
“All four groups are excited to keep working for justice and keep working for peace and love both at Notre Dame and beyond,” Anderson told The Observer.
In between each speech, protestors were led in a series of chants. Once the speeches concluded, protestors chanted as they turned to face the attendees of the DeSantis talk while they exited the building.
Chants included, “my body, my choice,” “free, free Palestine,” “stand for love, not for shame, we say gay at Notre Dame,” “say it loud, say it clear, immigrants are welcome here,” “not the church, not the state, the people must decide their fate” and “Black Lives Matter is here to stay.”
Many onlookers could be seen recording the protest, but most did not interact with the crowd.
Before concluding the protest, protestors turned around to direct the same chants at Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was inside the law school at the time.
Brantley encouraged protestors to take a pride pin to wear at the football game, which DeSantis would be in attendance at.
During his lecture, DeSantis responded to the protestors outside of DeBartolo Hall in a question-and-answer session. He urged them to “get new material,” and argued there had never been a legitimate Palestinian state.
DeSantis also portrayed the protestors as living in an ideological bubble.
“On a lot of these college campuses, those types of students are never challenged on their assumptions, and so they come out without questioning,” he said.
Despite this, DeSantis also urged students to see past their political differences.
“Politics is stuff that just happens, and you deal with it, but I do not take it personally,” he said. “And if I have a friend that sees things a different way, they're still gonna be my friend.”
