Alex Hammer writes for DailyMail.com about a significant higher education development in the Sunshine State.
The University of Florida has eliminated all positions affiliated with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI).
The move, laid bare in a leaked administrative memo, serves as the latest in the state’s mission to nix DEI initiatives from public institutions.
University Director of Public Affairs Cynthia Roldan confirmed the cut consisted of 13 full-time positions, as well 15 administrative appointments – 28 in total.
It also marks an end to the school’s office devoted to diversity, opened just six years ago. The next year, Republican Ron DeSantis would become governor, and has since passed a litany of laws to rid schools of lessons and literature surrounding DEI.
The leaked memo cites one such law – a state Board of Governors regulation that prohibits public universities in the state from expending state or federal funds to maintain programs that ‘advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion.’
To comply with the Florida Board of Governors’ regulation 9.016 on prohibited expenditures, the University of Florida has closed the Office of the Chief Diversity Officer,’ Provost J. Scott Angle and other school officials wrote.
‘[The university has also] eliminated DEI positions and administrative appointments, and halted DEI-focused contracts with outside vendors.’
The memo went on to tell the 28 pulled staffers that they would be provided with ’12 weeks of [severance pay]’, and are encouraged to apply elsewhere within the university.
Those staffers – which include boss Marsha McGriff, Assistant Director Farrah Harvey, and top administrator Wilma Rogers – were encouraged to apply now until April 19, ‘for expedited consideration for different positions currently posted with the university.’
As of writing, the school has more than a hundred open positions, though most require certain technical knowledge, or are intern of custodian roles.
