Editor's note: A version of this editorial was published online on April 20, 2024, with the headline "DEI is key to higher education. The University of Florida must bring back those programs." This is an expanded version of that piece.
The University of Florida had better wake up and listen to alumni alarmed at the school's decision to ditch diversity, equity and inclusion programs on its campus. If there is any segment of UF's proud graduates that sees problems with blowing off programs and services that attract a wide range of students and scholars, it's the school's Black alums. Their efforts to reinstate DEI at UF should not be so callously ignored.
Bothered by UF's response last month to a 2023 state law, the Coalition of Concerned Black University of Florida Alumni sought redress from the administration. To date, school officials haven't responded to the more than 100 Black UF graduates who called on the school to use private donations to revive DEI services and to do a much better job of boosting the number of Black students and faculty and representation on the Board of Trustees.
"The absence of a robust infrastructure with significant resources to maintain a diverse and inclusive learning environment could lead to adverse short- and long-term consequences that will undermine UF’s standing as a premiere institution of higher education." the coalition said in a letter to University President Ben Sasse, the board of trustees and several other top administrators at the school.
The coalition's concerns are justified. SB 266, last year's anti-woke war on academia, bars government spending on DEI services and prohibits core courses based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression and privilege are inherent in America's institutions and were created to maintain inequities. The change, the coalition believes, won't help in recruiting either Black students or faculty, a long-term problem that undermines UF's flagship reputation.
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Ending diversity, equity initiatives negatively impacts UF enrollment, faculty
Black student enrollment continues to hover around five percent. That's down, the coalition notes, from a high of 6.6% in 1997. That's not exactly a statistic for a premier school and one that its Black students have consistently tried to improve. On April 15, 1971, "Black Thursday," the school's Black Student Union organized a sit-in and march to force the school to recruit more Black students and faculty, that led to the arrest and suspension of 66 Black students. UF's Black alumni have worked for years to boost Black student enrollment, increase Black faculty and raise money for select programs, and DEI represented a meaningful tool for that effort.
Florida isn't the only state to shed college DEI services. Several Republican-led states have sought such bans, a move supposedly intended to end discrimination against whites and Asians. Although only nine bills have become law, more than 30 pieces of anti-DEI legislation have been filed across the country, according to Best Colleges, a consumer website that ranks colleges and universities. Unlike several schools that have sought to rename and recalibrate their diversity and inclusion programs to maintain their academic reputations, UF last month simply ended its effort.
The state's move to rid public universities of DEI is pulling down the quality of UF faculty and staff. Take the school's Levin College of Law. A report by the school's faculty senate last June found that 25 law school faculty members, including all five African Americans, left the university last year.
“In the past, [DEI] efforts across campus have typically been lip service, especially in the wake of George Floyd’s murder,” Stephanie Birch, a former African American librarian at the school who has left for a similar job in Connecticut, told The Independent Florida Alligator. “Now that DeSantis has formally come for [DEI], it will be interesting to see how UF responds in terms of hiring, policy, admissions and funding decisions."
School officials have defended their DEI decision to comply with state law, while maintaining UF campus remains a welcoming place for all students. "The University of Florida is – and will always be – unwavering in our commitment to universal human dignity," a spokeswoman said in an email response to a query by Post reporter Andrew Marra.
Warmed-over word salad is hardly a satisfying response to concerns over a toxic law that undermines the interests of higher learning. A concerned group of alumni has put UF on notice. How the school responds will show if Florida's flagship school is indeed committed to universal human dignity or instead to the whims of a privileged or political class.
