Florida’s Board of Governors Approves Anti-DEI Regulations
“The sweeping definitions prompted an outcry from students, professors and community members, many of whom spoke out at the meeting.”
Florida is becoming a model for transformational change in higher education.
Inside Higher Ed reports:
Florida Approves Controversial Anti-DEI Regulations
Despite significant public opposition, the State University System of Florida’s Board of Governors approved regulations that will govern how the system’s 12 universities must comply with Senate Bill 266, the state’s anti-DEI bill, during a meeting Thursday at the University of Central Florida.
SB 266 prohibits public universities from using state dollars to fund any activities concerning “diversity, equity and inclusion” or “political or social activism.” But the new regulations adopt a broad interpretation of the terms, defining DEI as “any program, campus activity, or policy that classifies individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, gender identity, or sexual orientation and promotes differential or preferential treatment of individuals on the basis of such classification.”
Political or social activism is defined as any activity aimed at “effecting or preventing change to a government policy, action, or function, or any activity intended to achieve a desired result related to social issues, where the university endorses or promotes a position in communications, advertisements, programs, or campus activities.” Social issues are further defined as “topics that polarize or divide society among political, ideological, moral, or religious belief.”
The sweeping definitions prompted an outcry from students, professors and community members, many of whom spoke out at the meeting. But because the public comment period for a Board of Governors meetings is only 15 minutes, each speaker had only one minute to talk—and not all who wanted to talk got a chance. Of those who did, the majority opposed the regulations, arguing that they would squelch freedom of expression.
“This board has opted to impose more restrictive and harmful burdens on Florida students, going beyond what [the DeSantis] administration’s ‘slate of hate’ was able to impact last legislative session and exceeding its oversight authority,” said Quinn Diaz, public policy associate for the LGBTQ+ advocacy nonprofit Equality Florida. “This board is signaling its fear of students’ voices uniting for the greater good of our communities while betraying its duty to teach and to inform and its mission to achieve excellence.”
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Comments
“Freedom of Expression” is not being curtailed. However, Expressions that are paid for by taxpayers are being curtailed.
A class in Accounting should have absolutely no DEI thoughts expressed by anyone, instructors or students.
BTW, thank you Governor DeSantis.
It’s always about the money.
If I weren’t already happily retired, I would strongly consider moving to a FL university to get away from all the DEI bs that has taken over the school where I was working.
I’ve actually given some thought to going back to teaching in some capacity . . . but only at a Florida university. And only if they dig out every last root of woke crazy.