Clifford Humphrey

Clifford Humphrey is the Executive Vice Chancellor in the Division of Florida Colleges at the Florida Department of Education. In 2020, he received a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Van Andel Graduate School of Statesmanship at Hillsdale College. He then helped found Thales College in Raleigh, North Carolina, and also taught moral philosophy and rhetoric at Troy University in Troy, Alabama. He has written on the topics of classical education, higher education, Christian religion, American politics, and philosophy at various publications including American Reformer, First Things, American Greatness, The American Spectator, The Washington Examiner, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The North American Anglican, and The Federalist. He is originally from Warm Springs, Georgia.

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What is your current position?
I’m the Executive Vice Chancellor of the Florida College System at the Florida Department of Education. I also teach a course called Leadership as Statesmanship through the Institute for Governance and Civics at Florida State University.

What inspired you to choose this career path?

My interest in education, my sense of civic duty to spend some time serving the public good, and my prudential calculation that the DeSantis administration provided a rare opportunity to do a lot of good in higher education in an important state, and to gain some significant experience in administration.

What are you currently working on?

Two things of note. First, in 2023, the Florida legislature amended Florida law to overhaul general education in public colleges and universities. Before these reforms, there was little coherence to general education, with any course—no matter how obscure the topic—counting as general education. After the reforms were implemented, the number of general education courses was dramatically reduced, and those courses clearly fit into foundational instruction in the five disciplines of natural science, social science, communications, mathematics, and humanities. Significantly, all humanities courses were required to include selections from the Western canon,

Second, Florida has led the nation in legal efforts to root out diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in public colleges and universities. As part of that effort, I have had the chance to help write the administrative rule that defined DEI and implement the law and rule in accordance with the will of the people of Florida through their elected legislature.

How did you hear about the Claremont Institute?

I attended Hillsdale College, and I took several classes with and even was a teacher’s assistant for President Larry Arnn, and I heard about it from him, a cofounder of the Claremont Institute.

What is your fondest memory of the Claremont Institute?

Staying up way too late in the hospitality suite arguing about some fine point of political philosophy with other fellows.

There are all sorts of educational programs out there for current and rising conservative professionals. What do you think makes the Claremont Institute’s Fellowships unique?

Claremont has always stuck to its defense of the American regime and the principles to which that regime is dedicated while consciously helping to cultivate statesmanlike prudence in constantly changing circumstances through its fellowships. I do not know any other organization that accomplishes that task so well.

Who would it be, why, and what would you discuss, if you could have a conversation with an American Founder, or any great thinker?

James Madison. I would want to ask him candidly about American federalism, to learn if he really thought that a regime that is “neither wholly national, nor wholly federal” could be coherent and sustainable as such without resolving wholly into one or the other. I would also want to ask him how big a “practicable sphere” of territory for a republican regime could be without devolving into monarchical empire.

What would the artifact be, if you could hold one piece of history from the early founding of our country and why?

The pen with which Jefferson wrote his first draft of the Declaration of Independence.

Looking back on history, in which one of the original 13 colonies would you have wanted to live and why?

Virginia, Tidewater region for its proximity to the important people in that state or Shenandoah for its beauty.

What do you believe is the greatest challenge facing the United States today?

The inability of the people to effect real change in their government through popular elections and the drop in religiosity matched with the drop in birthrates.

What qualities do you believe will make outstanding statesmen/women in this century?

Courage and mastering the art of rhetoric through the media that are most effective today.

Do you believe the US Department of Education should be abolished?  Why?

In principle, yes, since it was never intended that the federal government should have such great influence over education, and prudentially, yes, since it has proven to be so easily captured by the Left and leveraged against the American people.

Do you believe a course in ethics and integrity should be taught in every academic institution?  Why?

Yes, since no matter what career or field of study one is undertaking, it is essential that one be a good human being who does that thing, both for his own sake and for the sake of his community. Nothing is more important.

What process do you follow when your writing requires a great deal of truthful research and thought?

I try to steel-man the criticism of my argument and answer the anticipated rebuttal.

What book, speech, or movie has left a lasting impression with you and why?

Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics is a work I never tire of returning to. It’s teaching on human nature and what will lead to human happiness seems almost perfect, complimenting much of what I understand in divine revelation.

What books are you currently reading?

Machiavelli’s The Prince and Winston Churchill’s novel Savrola since I pair them together in a course I am teaching right now.

Do you have a favorite quote?  Why does it resonate with you?

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” – Ferris Bueller

Just a good reminder to stay in the present and enjoy the blessings all around me in big and small ways every day.

What is the most distinctive attribute/character of the people in the state where you grew up that you genuinely admire?

Georgians are stubbornly friendly, even if insincerely at times, out of a learned conviction that one’s present feelings shouldn’t dictate how one treats other people.

Where do you see yourself and the country in five years?

I hope I am still teaching college students and helping reform and administrate an institution of higher learning.

At the end of a stressful day what brings you peace of mind?

Eating a delicious meal with my family and reading just a few pages of a good book.