University of Florida Eliminates Diversity Office

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Facts

  • According to a memo released on Friday, the University of Florida has eliminated all 28 positions linked to the diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) program, closed the office of the chief diversity officer, and ended DEI contracts with outside vendors.1
  • The retrenched employees, who will receive a standard 12-week severance pay, have been encouraged to apply for open positions at the university before April 19 to have their applications fast-tracked.2
  • While the university announced that the $5M allocated for the DEI program will be directed toward faculty recruitment, the future of its Center for Inclusion and Multicultural Engagement remains unclear.3
  • The University of Florida's current president is former Republican Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse, and it stands as one of the largest universities in the US, with a total enrollment exceeding 61K students.4
  • Friday's announcement complies with a Florida Board of Governors resolution that bans state spending on all DEI programs, months after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation defunding DEI programs at state universities and colleges.5
  • Republicans have reportedly proposed some 50 bills in 20 states to curb DEI initiatives or demand their public disclosure, while Democrats filed two dozen bills in 11 states to require or promote DEI initiatives — including to reverse Florida's ban on DEI in higher education.6

Sources: 1The Independent Florida Alligator, 2Forbes, 3New York Post, 4FOX News, 5CNN and 6Associated Press.

Narratives

  • Left narrative, as provided by The New Republic. As DeSantis and his wingman Sasse continue to tilt at windmills in their nonsensical all-out war on the so-called woke culture in colleges, it's higher education that suffers the most. Axing the entire DEI staff at the University of Florida is nothing but a disgraceful political decision.
  • Right narrative, as provided by Wall Street Journal. Other states should learn from Florida and UF, which has shut down a divisive political power-grab bureaucracy without caving in to pressure to continue the program under a new name. Hopefully, other American universities will follow suit and return to their core mission of education rather than indoctrination.

Predictions