Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a bill on Monday that bans public colleges in the state from using funds on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, the latest advance in his battle with higher education.
DeSantis signed the bill at the New College of Florida, the liberal arts school where he recently replaced the school’s board of trustees with conservatives who promptly dismembered the university’s DEI department.
DeSantis said in his speech behind a “Florida The Education State” podium that DEI efforts were an attempt to “impose an ideological agenda” on students and faculty and in fact promote “exclusion” and “discrimination.”
“This bill says the whole experiment with DEI is coming to an end in the state of Florida,” he declared.
The governor says students who want to study areas such “gender ideology” should go to schools in other states, such as the University of California, Berkeley.
The law also makes it so general education courses in universities that are a requirement for all students “may not distort significant historical events or include a curriculum that teaches identity politics, violates, or is based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States and were created to maintain social, political, and economic inequities.”
Another bill the governor signed bans schools from making students or faculty sign diversity statements, calling them “loyalty oaths.”
“It is really requiring you to sign up to support an ideological agenda,” he said.
The moves are guaranteed to escalate tensions between DeSantis and the universities following last year, when he signed a bill to limit tenure at public colleges.