Florida Board of Education Restricts State and Federal Funding for DEI Programs in State Colleges
The Florida Board of Education has implemented a new measure prohibiting public colleges from utilizing state and federal funds for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz, Jr. emphasized that this decision aims to prevent the expenditure of taxpayers’ money on DEI initiatives that promote social division.
“Higher education must return to its essential foundations of academic integrity and the pursuit of knowledge instead of being corrupted by destructive ideologies,” said Diaz. “These actions today ensure that we will not spend taxpayers’ money supporting DEI and radical indoctrination that promotes division in our society.”
The board categorizes DEI initiatives in colleges as “programs that categorize individuals based on race or sex for the purpose of differential or preferential treatment.” Alongside this, the board announced the discontinuation of the “Principles of Sociology” course, replacing it with an American history general studies class intended to provide students with “an accurate and factual account of the nation’s past” rather than “radical woke ideologies.”
The new policy will apply to Florida’s 28 state college campuses and it echoes legislation passed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis back in May. The governor previously placed restrictions on state colleges to use taxpayer dollars for diversity programs in higher education institutions. The law also mandated universities to disclose the amount spent on DEI programs in 2023, an amount that was revealed to be at least $34 million.
While conservatives are applauding this move as a win towards genuine equality and the removal of radical ideologies from college campuses, several race activists have expressed disagreement. Civil rights activist and attorney Ben Crump, for example, condemned the Florida State Board of Education on X. Crump characterized the decision to prohibit state and federal funds from being spent on DEI programs as a “misguided path of censorship in Florida.”
