Final Rule — Florida PERMANENTLY Bans Public Funding for DEI on College Campuses

When Governor Ron DeSantis said that he was going to eliminate all Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and “critical race theory” bureaucracies in Florida, we believed him.

The governor said that as implemented, DEI stands for “discrimination, exclusion, and indoctrination.” He said no more funding, and they would “die on the vine.”

Gov. DeSantis last May signed a bill into law that defunded DEI programs at taxpayer-supported colleges and universities. The law allows the state to remove programs, majors, and minors that teach DEI or related issues. The legislature will provide funding for civics education in colleges and universities.

In a final blow to public spending on wokeness in higher education, the Florida State Board of Education announced last week that it passed a final rule limiting the use of taxpayers’ money to fund DEI programs and activities in the Florida College System (FCS). An excerpt (emphasis added):

The rule adopted by the Board defined, for the first time, DEI and affirmatively prohibits FCS institutions 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. The Board’s decision will ensure that taxpayer funds can no longer be used to promote DEI on Florida’s 28 state college campuses.

The state is also trying to prevent bureaucrats from sneaking in DEI under other names. Florida replaced the “Principles of Sociology” curriculum “with a comprehensive general education core course in American History.” The state intends to teach facts about America’s past — good and bad — and not racial and anti-America indoctrination.

“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.”