State officials want to activities related to diversity, equity and inclusion at public colleges and universities. That was the message from to the board overseeing the state鈥檚 higher ed institutions this week.
But the top official overseeing Florida's university system says some of the programs called into question do have value.
Florida鈥檚 public universities recently had to report to Gov. Ron Desantis鈥� office on campus and what the initiatives cost. According to public records, the programs account for a fraction of the universities鈥� overall budgets but total in the .
Initiatives listed by the universities include courses on 鈥淩ace and Cultural Inclusion in Social Work鈥� and 鈥淎nthropology of Race & Ethnicity," as well as programs to recruit and retain students and faculty from underrepresented backgrounds and diversity training for mental health providers.
Speaking to the Florida Board of Governors this week, Nu帽ez claimed that a 鈥渨oke culture鈥� is 鈥渋nfiltrating鈥� state universities and must be addressed.
In his own comments to the board Ray Rodrigues, the chancellor overseeing the state鈥檚 universities, raised concerns about or CRT 鈥� a term that use broadly to describe they don鈥檛 agree with.
But he told SA国际传谋 that some of the DEI programs have value.
鈥淭here are programs in there that target populations that are important to everyone,鈥� he said, following the meeting. 鈥淪o I just wanted to make sure that we communicate that and let our universities know that we hear them. Because that's what they've communicated to us.鈥�
Nu帽ez had praised the state鈥檚 college presidents for releasing a recently pledging to eliminate initiatives on their campuses that 鈥減romote any ideology鈥�. Speaking to the Board of Governors, she hinted that more action will come during the upcoming legislative session.
鈥淥ur state colleges provided a statement in which they claimed to be stopping this bent on indoctrinating issues as it relates to DEI,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 believe that they鈥檙e looking at ways to curb those initiatives and I think we鈥檒l look at ways to more broadly curb those initiatives as well.鈥�
Even before state officials鈥� recent review of DEI spending, some have already begun modifying their teaching practices or dropping courses entirely, because of a new restricting how the history of racism and discrimination can be addressed in the classroom.
Asked who will decide which of the DEI initiatives should continue, Rodrigues said 鈥渢hat remains to be seen鈥�.
鈥淚 can't imagine any scenario where we would see legislation that would come out that would be so broad that it would eliminate the efforts that we're making for first-generation college students 鈥� for non-traditional students 鈥� for our special needs populations 鈥� for our military veterans,鈥� the chancellor added.
Rodrigues declined to give his own definition of what qualifies as CRT. He instead pointed to .
鈥淧oint of today was just to raise that to make sure everyone knows that within that umbrella [of DEI] are those programs. So we need to work together to ensure that those programs don't get caught up in this,鈥� he said.
Only one member of the public spoke up at Wednesday鈥檚 meeting 鈥� Professor Amanda Phalin, who chairs the Faculty Senate at the University of Florida. Phalin said DEI initiatives are fundamentally about improving access to higher education for all students.
鈥淭hat's what D, E and I is to me. It's about access for everyone so that everyone has the potential to achieve the greatest possible limits,鈥� Phalin said. 鈥淭hat everyone can do that regardless of where they're from or how they grew up.鈥�
