Former UNF adjunct professor Monica DePaul is still running for Congress as a Democratic representative for the 4th District of Florida.

DePaul used to teach English classes at UNF until the department decided to not renew her contract last week.

Aside from teaching, she volunteers at several local organizations like the local Democratic party and Equality Florida. She was the first transgender delegate at the DNC. She was also vocal during the passage of the human rights ordinance.

Though she doesn’t have much political experience, DePaul states that there aren’t any set qualifications for the position she is running for. She believes she is qualified due to her critical thinking skills, argumentative skills, and her ability to “appeal to people’s emotional, logical and ethical sensibilities.”

“I just have to look at Donald Trump, and see how unqualified he is,” DePaul said. “I can be just as vicious as he is, but do it with more style.”

DePaul said the reason behind her running for Congress is due to her experience as an adjunct professor. She hopes to change the system to benefit certain employees who are underpaid and without benefits. Her goal is to establish a system where all university workers are fairly paid for their time and effort.

“I can’t really make any difference in higher education at the local level,” DePaul said. “It would have to be state or national. So, that’s why I ended up going national.”

She also wants to be the voice of reason and logic in a world that she described as being based on dogmatism and full of emotional outbursts. She wants people to know that she is listening to them and as her slogan says, “You are not alone.”

Though her platform is not completely set, here are some of DePaul’s ideas on some important issues.

Student Debt

She believes the cost of college should be vastly decreased or free if possible. She plans on pursuing this by creating a “tiny, minuscule tax on Wall Street speculation, which is currently an untaxed source of income that’s almost exclusive to the wealthy.”

LGBT Rights

As a transgender woman, DePaul is a strong supporter of LGBT rights as it affects her directly. She says she will uphold the Supreme Court decision for marriage equality. She also wants to work on bringing back the ability for student’s to be able to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity.  DePaul also wants health care to include access to hormone treatments and mental health services for transgender people.

“They are deemed medically necessary,” DePaul said. “Doctors do need to be a part of that process. It should be covered.”

Education

One of DePaul’s main focal points will be on education. She wants to put the curriculum in the hands of teachers and stop evaluating students through standardized tests.

She is unsure as to how teachers and schools should be evaluated instead of the tests. She also wants to create more trade schools and reduce the cost of college.

Climate Change

DePaul has been researching and teaching herself more about climate change through an Audible book. From her research, DePaul hopes to increase access to solar power and explore wind power more. She also mentioned the possibility of nuclear power since the waste is overall less harmful than carbon waste.

According to DePaul’s campaign website, “climate scientists are the experts, not politicians.” She also hopes to tax corporations who pollute the environment to account for the problems that pollution causes.

If you would like to learn more about DePaul’s campaign and how she stands on other issues, you can visit her website monica4florida.com. Yes, it’s a number four because she is running for District 4. You can also ask her questions on her Facebook page: Monica 4 Florida.

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