DeSantis outlines higher education reform plan and calls for abolishing DEI bureaucracies
Jeremiah Poff
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis outlined a series of reforms for higher education in the Sunshine State on Tuesday, which includes eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion departments and requiring new core classes.
The governor announced the proposals during a press conference in which he vowed to cut off state funding from diversity, equity, and inclusion departments at state universities, further reform faculty tenure reviews, and require new core courses “grounded in actual history [and] the … philosophy that has shaped Western civilization.”
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INSIDE RON DESANTIS’S WAR WITH THE COLLEGE BOARD OVER AP AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES
“We are … going to eliminate all DEI and [critical race theory] bureaucracies in the state of Florida — no funding, and that will wither on the vine,” DeSantis said. “That’s very important because it really serves as an ideological filter, a political filter … people want to see true academics, and they want to get rid of some of the political window dressing.”
The governor’s proposal would ban universities in the state from requiring diversity statements during the hiring process, as well as cut off funding for DEI and critical race theory programs. Earlier this month, the presidents of 28 Florida universities vowed to end all DEI- and CRT-related programs that were discriminatory in nature or “compels belief in critical race theory or related concepts such as intersectionality.”
DeSantis, widely expected to throw his hat into the 2024 presidential race, has made combating “woke” education a central theme of his governorship. He previously championed legislation that prohibited schools from teaching critical race theory, reformed accreditation rules for state universities, and codified parental rights protections.
https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1620468515332587521?s=20&t=C3EC76ZLMbTjgxc3BuH-fg
On Tuesday, the governor also announced he was seeking a substantial increase in funding for the New College of Florida, where he recently installed a number of conservative activists and intellectuals on the board of trustees. The $15 million funding expansion would go to faculty and student recruitment, including scholarships.
“I don’t think there’s any state in the country that’s been leading on the issue of higher education the way the state of Florida has,” DeSantis said. “I think you can say that on many issues over the last however many years where Florida leads on time and time again. It’s important that your tax dollars are funding institutions that you can be proud of.”
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The governor also announced plans to expand civics education by refocusing the Hamilton Center at the University of Florida, the Adam Smith Center at Florida International University, and the Florida Institute of Politics at FSU to develop improved civics curriculum “that can be used to educate the next generation on the values of liberty and constitutionalism.”
“I think the more we’re centering higher education, on integrity of the academics, excellence, pursuit of truth, teaching kids to think for themselves, not trying to impose an orthodoxy, [the more] you are going to see people flooding into these institutions,” DeSantis said.