Announcing the new policy in a press statement reIeased on Wednesday, January 17, the Florida Board of Education announced that it has implemented regulations that will prohibit the use of state funds for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in the state’s system of pubIic higher education.
The ban applies to programs, activities, and policies within the schools.
In doing so, Florida is following Oklahoma’s Iead. There, Governor Stitt decided in December of 2023 to ban DEI funding at public colleges and universities in the state.
His executive order prohibits public centers of higher education from using state resources of any sort for DEI programs and demanded that those same colleges and universities dismiss all “non-criticaI personnel.”
Florida’s State Board of Education, in its press release on the matter, announced the strict regulations to stop the DEI funding in state colleges and universities. It said, Today, the State Board of Education implemented strict regulations to limit the use of public funds for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs, activities, and policies in the Florida College System (FCS).
Continuing, the press release noted, The rule adopted by the Board defined, for the first time, DEI and affirmatively prohibits FCS institutions from using state or federal funds to administer programs that categorize individuals based on race or s ex for the purpose of differential or preferential treatment.
The Board’s decision will ensure that taxpayer funds can no longer be used to promote DEI on Florida’s 28 state college campuses.