Race and higher education scholars are voicing criticism, concern, and cynicism after the University of Florida ended many of its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts, a move that the school cited it took to comply with a state law that was passed last year.
Dr. David Canton
Specifically, UF closed its Office of the Chief Diversity Officer (CDO), removed DEI and administrative roles, and stopped DEI-focused contracts with outside vendors, according to an administrative memo UF leadership published Mar. 1.
Much of higher ed institutions’ abilities to provide opportunities to underserved populations are housed in their DEI offices, said Dr. Jeffrey Q. McCune, Jr., chair of Black studies at the University of Rochester.
"It's not just the elimination of some CDO or offices which 'promote division.' But rather, it's the elimination of opportunities to retain faculty and students [who] this country and its universities has historically never served,” McCune said. “And so, part of what we are seeing is an elimination of offices that help retain faculty that have historically not been included in the university culture. Opportunities that are being eliminated are opportunities for students for whom the culture has not been able to be inclusive and inviting.”
The 2023 state bill in question, SB 266, stipulates specifically that schools in and organizations directly supported by the Florida College System cannot use state or federal funds to “promote, support, or maintain any programs or campus activities that … advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, or promote or engage in political or social activism,” as defined by state education officials.
As culture wars over political and social ideology – including concepts such as DEI, critical race theory, and “wokeness” – continue to roil and come up in public discourse, officials from states like Florida and Texas have led the charge against such ideas, signing legislation to hinder their advancement or very existence.
“This is another step in a broader agenda to dismantle DEI resources that seek to address historic and systemic inequities in higher education,” said Dr. Amer F. Ahmed, vice provost for DEI at the University of Vermont. “It undermines our ability to foster the innovation, creativity, and solutions needed to confront the challenges we face in our society and world today.”
