Goodbye, DEI: UF students react to elimination of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion positions

The University of Florida announced March 1 that it was eliminating all positions related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) following a new Florida Board of Governors regulation that labels expenses related to DEI as prohibited expenditures.

The Board of Governors defines DEI as "any program, campus activity, or policy that classifies individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, gender identity, or sexual orientation and promotes differential or preferential treatment of individuals on the basis of such classification."

The announcement: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion employees will no longer have a job at UF

Information: University of Florida eliminiates DEI employees per DeSantis law. Here's what we know

UF Spokesperson Cynthia Roldan said 13 full-time positions were eliminated as well as 15 administrative appointments, which are roles that faculty members accept in addition to their regular duties. Additionally, the Office of the Chief Diversity Officer has been closed and all DEI-focused contracts with outside vendors have been halted, the university's announcement said.

Amiya Gupta, a fourth-year engineering major, said she wasn't surprised due to the political climate in Florida over the last few years, but is disappointed in the university's decision.

"As a student, UF has a lot of things that I'm really continuously impressed by," she said. "I think we have a lot of resources. I've always thought that this has been a great university in terms of the academics, the research and the community. But I think this is symptomatic of a bigger problem in Florida's politics, because I think, historically, universities have always been places of community building and show the importance of bringing in wide and diverse perspectives — not only diverse in terms of race or any personal characteristics — but in terms of thought and ideas. And I think that Florida politics is trying really hard to infiltrate that."

Gupta said she's seeing professors begin to search for jobs elsewhere, including in the engineering department. Gupta wants to pursue grad school and said she has spoken to students in the doctoral application process who say UF has good research but that they don't want to attend because of the politics.

"I think that UF is going to have a big struggle with brain drain and people going to other areas, simply because they don't feel like there's support from the university," she said.

Gupta is a part of the Multicultural Greek Council (MGC), a collection of culturally based sororities and fraternities on campus focused on diversity and cultural engagement. She said her group isn't worried about funding since it receives support from Sorority and Fraternity Life.

There are concerns, however, about the future of the Center for Inclusion and Multicultural Engagement (CIME), which oversees the offices of Asian Pacific Islander Desi Student Engagement, Black Student Engagement, Hispanic-Latinx Student Engagement and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer + (LGBTQ+) Student Engagement.

"Being in MGC, or any of the other cultural kind of organizations, I do a lot of programming [that] revolves around diversity or around inclusion education," Gupta said. "And so when rules came up about what words were and were not allowed to be used — like using words like 'diversity' or 'equity' — that does put a lot of constraints on programming, especially that kind of stuff that revolves around DEI, so I wasn't surprised when I saw that this is the next step that was taken."

Lorena Bacallao, an advertising major and student building manager at UF, shared the same sentiment: disappointed, but not surprised.

"As a school that takes so much pride in so many different things, like research and being the first, or being innovative... I feel like it would have made more sense for the university to be the one that [said]: 'No, we're not doing this – this is a right,' but they did the opposite."

As a first-generation college student as well as a Latina and Cuban woman, Bacallao said it was "heartbreaking to know that there is a risk of losing those safe spaces or those rights as a student." She also said the 13 employees who were fired "randomly [lost their] job over something that's so wrong."

Last year Bacallao was a peer leader for ADELANTE, a free program under CIME and the Office of Hispanic-Latinx Student Engagement, which supports first-year Hispanic-Latinx students with their transition to college. She said she was disappointed that these types of programs could lose funding or be removed altogether.

"In the sense of community," she said. "People won't feel like they belong, or that they should even come to the state of Florida to study here, because it's like: 'Okay, am I even safe? Do I belong there?'"

The regulation says a state university "may not expend any state or federal funds to promote, support, or maintain any programs or campus activities" that violate section 1000.05 of Florida Statutes, advocate for what it defines as diversity, equity, and inclusion, or promote or engage in what it defines as political or social activism. This means independently-funded groups might still continue.

Sophie Benson, a political science and sociology sophomore, heard about the news and how it is impacting agencies and organizations at UF through the Independent Florida Alligator student newspaper and student government.

"It's a little bit of a crisis in figuring out, like, will those agencies be able to sustain without those funds, or are we going to be able to get other funds, or are they just going to go away," she said. "I know there's talk about getting funds from alumni and stuff, like that's a possibility. So if that happens, I mean, hopefully everything stays the same. But definitely, I know people are upset about it."

UF Student Government released a statement Monday, calling the decision "jarring" and saying that it "leaves many students feeling lost and takes a piece of home from the Swamp, especially those like us coming from minority communities."

The statement also paid tribute to the employees who were fired, thanking them for all they've done at the university. UF said in its announcement that these employees are "allowed and encouraged" to apply – between March 1 and April 19 – for expedited consideration for other open positions at the university. UF also said it will work to speed up the interview process for these employees and provide an answer on all applications within 12 weeks, which is when their severance pay would end.

Multiple students, when asked, said they didn't know about the decision to remove DEI positions or didn't know enough about the situation to make a comment.

One student who wished to remain anonymous said he didn't "think it really matters" and doesn't think the decision will impact the UF community. He said, until today, he hadn't heard about it and doesn't know what the employees whose positions were eliminated specifically do.

The employees who have been fired will receive 12 weeks of severance pay under the direction of UF Human Resources. The approximately $5 million in funds previously reported to Tallahassee for DEI salaries and expenses will be reallocated into a faculty recruitment fund to be administered by the Office of the Provost.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: University of Florida eliminates diversity, equity, inclusion staff