GAINESVILLE, Florida (LifeSiteNews) — A memo released by the University of Florida on Friday announced that it has terminated all of its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) employees, in accordance with state law.
The move comes after the Florida Board of Education announced in January that taxpayer dollars would no longer be allowed to fund DEI-related positions.
“Higher education must return to its essential foundations of academic integrity and the pursuit of knowledge instead of being corrupted by destructive ideologies,” state education commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. said at the time.
The policy applies to all 28 publicly funded colleges in the Sunshine State, but the University of Florida, which will reallocate the $5 million it had been spending on DEI initiatives into a faculty retirement fund, appears to be one of the first institutions of higher education to comply with it.
Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis took a victory lap by issuing a celebratory post on X. “DEI is toxic and has no place in our public universities,” he declared. “I’m glad that Florida was the first state to eliminate DEI and I hope more states follow suit.”
DEI is toxic and has no place in our public universities.
I’m glad that Florida was the first state to eliminate DEI and I hope more states follow suit. https://t.co/oThvwowKu6
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) March 1, 2024
DEI measures have long-been criticized by Republicans and others for undermining the basic principles of Western Civilization, among other concerns.
In September 2023, the Wall Street Journal published an article by Harvard social scientists Mahzarin Banaji and Frank Dobbin, which, while continuing to vouch for the stated purpose of DEI programs, acknowledged there is “no question that the way organizations deal with it is more likely to hurt than help.”
University employees who lost their jobs due to the decision have been urged by the Board to apply for other positions on campus. They will also receive 12 weeks of severance pay.
The move is being hailed by conservatives as yet another example of DeSantis’ effectiveness as a governor and causing consternation among far-left Florida Democrats and woke activist groups.
Previously, DeSantis banned LGBT indoctrination of children from kindergarten through third grade, later expanding that to all grade levels. He has also required schools to inform parents about their curriculum, banned sexually explicit books in public libraries, and approved legislation outlawing gender-confused persons from using opposite-sex bathrooms.
The Florida Board of Education’s decision in January was also a result of DeSantis’ efforts, as he had signed a law last year that prevents tax dollars from being used for DEI programs and other initiatives that promote woke falsehoods about the United States.