Florida bans DEI programs at public colleges
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida State Board of Education created a new rule Wednesday to bar member schools of the Florida College System from spending taxpayer dollars on “diversity, equity and inclusion” programs.
The rule also applies to federal funds, in addition to state funds, given to public colleges.
It defines “diversity, equity and inclusion,” or “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.”
Specifically, such colleges cannot use taxpayer funds to “promote, support, or maintain any programs or campus activities” advocating for DEI or “political or social activism.”
“Higher education must return to its essential foundations of academic integrity and the pursuit of knowledge instead of being corrupted by destructive ideologies,” said Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz, Jr. “These actions today ensure that we will not spend taxpayers’ money supporting DEI and radical indoctrination that promotes division in our society.”
The Florida Department of Education also announced the board replaced a course called “Principles of Sociology” with a “comprehensive” American history class.
“The aim is to provide students with an accurate and factual account of the nation’s past, rather than exposing them to radical woke ideologies, which had become commonplace in the now replaced course,” the department said in a press release.
The department slammed “indoctrination” in education, vying to pursue “truth” instead.
Florida’s new rule comes after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law in May 2023 eliminating DEI in higher education.
The latest rule does not apply to public universities, which are members of the State University System of Florida. For that system, the Board of Governors is still working on rules on DEI as of late last year.
There are 28 member schools in the Florida College System.
