University of Florida ends DEI office under law
The University of Florida is eliminating its chief diversity officer position, scrapping the program’s staff jobs and halting any contracts involving the subject because of a new law passed last year that was pushed by Republican Gov. Ron Desantis.
The university in Gainesville, Florida, said in a memo released Friday that staff whose jobs were eliminated will get 12 weeks of pay and are encouraged to apply for other positions by April 19. The move axes 13 staff jobs and also removes administrative appointments to the diversity office for 15 faculty members, officials said.
Three UF officials said in the memo that despite the elimination of the diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, program, the school will continue what they called “our commitment to universal human dignity.”
“As we educate students by thoughtfully engaging in a wide range of ideas and views, we will continue to foster a community of trust and respect for every member of the Gator Nation,” the memo said.
Also, $5 million that had been earmarked for the DEI program will be diverted into a faculty recruitment fund.
The legislation passed in 2023 and signed into law by Desantis was among several measures aimed at ending what he called “woke” policies in education, including critical race theory and DEI.
Rules on DEI adopted earlier by state education officials say state colleges and universities are banned “from using state or federal funds to administer programs that categorize individuals based on race or sex for the purpose of differential or preferential treatment.” DEI supporters say such offices help ensure equality and representation for people of different races, gender and disabilities.