Florida governor Ron DeSantis on Monday signed legislation that prohibits state-funded colleges and universities from spending money on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
In addition to defunding DEI projects, the law also bars public colleges from infusing critical race theory and related grievance politics ideologies into curricula for general education courses. Those classes “may not distort significant historical events or include a curriculum that teaches identity politics” stemming from “theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States and were created to maintain social, political, and economic inequities,” according to the law.
“If you look at the way this has actually been implemented across the country, DEI is better viewed as standing for discrimination, exclusion and indoctrination,” DeSantis said at a press conference at New College of Florida in Sarasota. “And that has no place in our public institutions. This bill says the whole experiment with DEI is coming to an end in the state of Florida.”
In January, DeSantis announced a plan to reverse New College’s progressive bent by overhauling its board of trustees, six members of which he replaced with conservative appointees. The DeSantis administration’s main criticism of the school’s trajectory was its embrace of DEI initiatives. Journalist Christopher Rufo, one of the New College appointees, has worked for years to expose the infiltration of DEI into K-12, academia, corporations, and other sectors.
DeSantis also said Monday that some other progressive academic disciplines that he has suggested rarely translate to lucrative jobs that constructively contribute to society will be discouraged or dismantled in Florida higher education.
“Florida’s getting out of that game,” he said. “If you want to do things like gender ideology, go to Berkeley. Go to some of these other places.”
The bill-signing ceremony was visited by protesters, who made noise as the law was enacted, the Washington Post reported.
“If you look at the way this has actually been implemented across the country, DEI is better viewed as standing for ‘discrimination, exclusion, and indoctrination,’ and that has no place in our public institutions,” DeSantis said.