Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will completely eliminate funding for “DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) bureaucracies” within the state’s public colleges and universities, he announced during a press conference Tuesday morning.
Governor DeSantis Announces Reforms for Florida’s Higher Education https://t.co/4sLMh6PfUK
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) January 31, 2023
“What is the purpose of higher education?” he asked. “I think you have the dominant view, which I think is not the right view, that the use of higher education is to impose ideological conformity – to try and provoke political activism. And that’s not what a university should be. That’s not what we believe is appropriate in the state of Florida.”
DeSantis went on to insist that Florida’s higher education system must focus on providing students with a foundation of academic excellence in order to promote independent thought and free expression.
“These [DEI] bureaucracies are hostile to academic freedom, and really, they constitute a drain on resources and end up contributing to higher costs as the bureaucracies metastasis,” he continued.
The governor noted that Florida’s public colleges and universities have maintained among the most affordable tuition rates in the country and that the upcoming defunding of leftist indoctrination departments within the institutions will help maintain and potentially further cut future tuition bills.
New higher education proposal builds off our 2022 reforms:
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) January 31, 2023
- Core courses rooted in Western tradition
- Elimination of DEI/CRT bureaucracies
- Bolster civics-focused institutes at UF, FSU and FIU
- Additional accountability for tenured faculty pic.twitter.com/XV6mExlzHJ
This announcement comes just one month after DeSantis ordered the state’s public colleges and universities to report all expenses and salaries relating to DEI programming and employees. As Young America’s Foundation reported, many leftist professors were very upset by that news.
This am, @GovRonDeSantis called for end of DEI & CRT bureaucracy in FL. “We don’t want students going through at taxpayer expense and graduating with a degree in zombie studies…” Time for other states to follow his lead! pic.twitter.com/oopYpiCNCU
— Scott Walker (@ScottWalker) January 31, 2023
YAF President Governor Scott Walker voiced his support for DeSantis’ move, writing, “Time for other states to follow his lead!” on Twitter.
