Gov. Ron DeSantis blasted diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, programs last month during a roundtable discussion organized by the governor's office in West Palm Beach.
鈥淚n Florida, we are not going to back down to the woke mob, and we will expose the scams they are trying to push onto students across the country,鈥� said DeSantis. 鈥淔lorida students will receive an education, not a political indoctrination.鈥�
Widely viewed as a potential 2024 Republican presidential candidate, DeSantis has been on a path to dismantle university DEI programs as part of his plan to overhaul publicly funded higher education.
The Republican-majority Florida Legislature has followed the governor's lead by introducing legislation this year to rein in DEI programs at each of the state's 12 public universities.
The House bill to ban DEI programs is moving forward, but a similar bill in the Senate , was recently amended to erase the provisions dealing with diversity, equity and inclusion.
Supporters say DEI programs have been a part of higher education for a long time and are rooted in the 1960s civil rights movement, and have served to increase diversity of thought and enrollment success of underreprresented populations on campus clubs, support groups, recruitment and outreach.
Critics contend that DEI programs undermine merit and equality.
鈥淚nstead of being unifying, we see it as being divisive and an attempt to cancel and censor those that don鈥檛 agree," said Ray Rodrigues, Chancellor of the State University System of Florida, during the West Palm Beach roundtable event.
"It鈥檚 become a means to advocate a political ideology of the left," he said. "And, it has ignored merit and instead sought to provide equal outcomes not based on the merit of the individual or of the work but instead on their physical characteristics which is exclusionary not inclusive.鈥�
More than a dozen states 鈥� including Florida and Texas 鈥� are considering banning these types of programs. In Florida, legislators and policymakers are questioning if they鈥檙e a good use of public resources 鈥� and if these programs actually work 鈥� or are promoting division among staff, students and departments.
Recently, the New College of Florida abolished its DEI office.
In Palm Beach County, a long-time teacher at Palm Beach Atlantic University, a private Christian school, who included black literature in his English course, says his contract was not renewed when a parent accused him of 鈥渋ndoctrinating鈥� students.
H.B. 999 would prohibit state or federal money granted to public universities from being spent on programs that promote DEI or engage in social or political activism. It would also prohibit programs that show preferential treatment based on race, gender or other identifiers.
State Sen. Shevrin Jones, a South Florida Democrat, told SA国际传谋 "Republicans have made [DEI] the new boogeyman or their new buzzword for wokeness. But it鈥檚 always been around.鈥�
Before entering politics, Jones taught AP Chemistry and AP Biology and Florida Atlantic University high school in Boca Raton.
鈥淭his new notion that these types of programs in colleges and universities are somehow turning children into quote unquote activists is just totally a mischaracterization of what diversity equity and inclusion actually is,鈥� he told SA国际传谋.
Jones said DEI programs, among other benefits, provide a support system for first-generation college students, fund outreach programs, provide workshop training about anti-racism and pay for administrators to facilitate such programs.
In 2021, when Jones was the vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Education, he toured each of Florida鈥檚 12 public universities and found that schools were effective in doing their part to help close the equity gap.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 not wokeness, that鈥檚 school support to help with their students who are on their campus to make sure that everyone feels like they belong there,鈥� he said.
Florida public universities self-reported spending nearly $35 million a year on DEI programs. And, approximately, $21 million of that is coming from state funds.
Some conservative Florida lawmakers question whether the money being spent is going to good use. The University of Florida reported spending over $1 million in salaries for four employees at one of its DEI offices 鈥� and $780,000 of that was state money.
Christopher Rufo, a Senior fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute, who was recently elected as a trustee for New College of Florida, attended the DeSantis roundtable event entitled, 鈥淓ducation Not Indoctrination.鈥�
鈥淚 think what we need to do is take a look at the specifics. Get beyond the Orwellian word games that all sound good in theory but really understand, what do these offices do and is it a good use of public resources.鈥�
Rufo is viewed nationally as the architect of the right-wing outrage against critical race theory, a legal term that has come to represent teaching about the effects of slavery. He actively posts on social media about his vision for the future of New College, often in militaristic terms.
Rufo has referred to new trustees at the public institution as the 鈥渓anding team,鈥� saying, 鈥淲e got over the wall,鈥� and talking of an operation to 鈥渞ecapture鈥� the college.
Joe Cohn, from the nonprofit Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression based in Philadephia, which defends free speech in academia, told SA国际传谋 that legislators are right to question the amount of money being spent on DEI initiatives.
鈥淚t's been exploding in recent years. There's data that shows that the percentage of money dedicated towards the administrative arm of institutions is exponentially growing, while the resources dedicated to faculty are shrinking vastly,鈥� Cohn said.
Money better spent
DEI is not just one department. DEI programs are embedded in many colleges within Florida鈥檚 universities. For example, at the University of Florida, there is a Center for Inclusion and Multicultural Engagement and an Office for Diversity and Health Equity within the College of Medicine.
State Rep. Alex Andrade, a Republican who sponsored H.B. 999, argues that some DEI administrators are sending the wrong message by pushing certain ideologies. And, he feels the money spent on these programs could be put to better use.
Andrade said, 鈥淩eallocating it to more beneficial pursuits is something I think the state benefits from.鈥�
DEI programs account for around 1% of annual school budgets. And, not all of the DEI programs offered at Florida public universities use state money 鈥� some schools fund these programs themselves 鈥� according to documents included in the staff analysis of the bill.
In Boca Raton, Florida Atlantic University has one of the highest minority student populations in the state, About 20% are Black and 27% Hispanic. The university spent $900,000 on DEI initiatives last year, including administrative staff, student success programs, workshops, seminars and social events. The state funded more than $640,000.
But H.B. 999 isn鈥檛 only about funding.
The bill would ban coursework that 鈥渄istorts significant historical events or that use instruction from critical theory.鈥�
Currently, the state pays for courses like Florida Atlantic University鈥檚 鈥淩acism and Anti-Racism鈥� and 鈥淕ender and Climate Change鈥�.
Cohn, from the nonprofit Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said the bill would put in jeopardy a number of similar courses.
鈥淭here are all kinds of thorny issues with the bill. For example, it prevents certain majors from existing on campus all targeted because they espouse views that the majority in the Florida legislature dislikes,鈥� Cohn said.
The bill goes on to say that it would prohibit 鈥渟olicitation of pledges or commitments to viewpoints related to DEI, CRT, or any political identity or ideology, as part of any hiring, promotion, admission, disciplinary, or evaluation process.鈥�
Political litmus tests?
That means that political litmus tests 鈥� often used to define values and morals 鈥� would be prohibited.
Cohn agrees, saying "it鈥檚 inappropriate for institutions to be imposing any political litmus tests in either direction on any issues.鈥�
Professor Christopher Robe teaches film at FAU鈥檚 School of Communications and Multimedia. He said, 鈥淭here's a confusion of like talking about subjects and indoctrinating subjects. And that's two very different things, right?鈥�
As Vice President of the school鈥檚 United Faculty of Florida chapter, he told SA国际传谋 that UFF does not support this kind of legislation.
鈥�I teach Birth of a Nation, a pro KKK film. I am certainly not advocating the KKK in my class. But it's important to come up with the historical reality, the importance of that film and addressing its impact on Hollywood and future filmmaking. It's kind of juvenile. This notion that simply bringing it up means you're inherently supporting it.鈥�
Jay Goodman, a sophomore studying music composition at Florida Atlantic University, helped draft a resolution sending a message about what the students think: they oppose the bill.
鈥淚t goes against the very purpose of college which is to educate and to find new perspectives that you didn鈥檛 think of before. It鈥檚 intellectual censorship and the government has no place doing that,鈥� Goodman told SA国际传谋.
