Florida’s Board of Education has created a new rule that will severely restrict the amount of public funds that state colleges can use for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The move is the latest in a statewide effort to crack down on DEI programs.
According to WPTV, the Board of Education announced the new rule on Wednesday. It prohibits colleges in the Florida College System from using state or federal funds to implement programs that “categorize individuals based on race or sex for the purpose of differential or preferential treatment.”
“Higher education must return to its essential foundations of academic integrity and the pursuit of knowledge instead of being corrupted by destructive ideologies,” Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz, Jr., said in a statement. “These actions today ensure that we will not spend taxpayers’ money supporting DEI and radical indoctrination that promotes division in our society.”
The rule will apply to 28 colleges in Florida, including many schools that enroll significant populations of Black and Latino students, NBC News reports.
Jalen Nixon, the president of the Black Student Union at Florida State College at Jacksonville, called the Board of Education’s decision a “travesty.”
“How can we bring an end to racism when there is no funding behind it?” Nixon said in an interview with News 4 Jax.
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