Florida at the Vanguard<\/h2>\n
Leading\u200d the charge against\u2064 the DEI\u2064 revolution is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. He\u2064 has developed a\u200c comprehensive strategy to dismantle and replace the DEI apparatus, recognizing the importance \u2063of \u2063both\u2063 policy and personnel in\u200b higher education and\u2063 beyond.<\/p>\n
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The first step \u2064in Florida’s higher education reform was\u200c the\u2064 passage of \u2064SB 266 in 2023. \u200dThis \u200blegislation\u2062 called for the \u2062dismantling of DEI offices in Florida’s systems and a review of general \u2064education. It also established counter-programming at\u2063 major \u2063institutions and paved the way for\u200d program reviews in higher\u200c education. The strategy was clear: in order to \u200bbuild\u200d healthy entities, the administrative\u2063 opposition\u200d on campus needed to be dismantled.<\/p>\n
Following \u2062the passage \u200dof the law, state \u200dagencies prohibited the\u200d use of taxpayer\u2063 funds for activities \u2063promoting \u2062”diversity, equity, and inclusion” or “political or social activism.” Individual Florida universities are now implementing this rule.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile,\u200c other states have not seen the same progress. The University of \u2062Texas at Austin, for example, has simply renamed its DEI offices and continued its push for DEI, in violation of the Texas ban on such offices. This\u200c defiance is possible because\u200c the university president and \u2063board of trustees are \u200cwilling to challenge political authorities. In \u200bcontrast, Governor DeSantis and Florida executives have been selective in appointing university board members, ensuring that there are few presidents\u200b advocating \u200cfor DEI. The University of Florida, led by\u2063 President Ben Sasse\u2063 and Provost J. Scott Angle, stands \u2062as an example of this approach.<\/p>\n
In addition, Florida’s higher education administrators have\u2063 conducted a \u2064review of the state’s general education courses.\u200d As \u2063a\u200b result, sociology \u2063has been dropped as a course that\u2063 fulfills general education \u2064requirements. \u2062Florida \u200bEducation \u2062Commissioner Manny \u200cDiaz argues that students should focus on learning\u2063 the truth about\u2064 their country instead \u2063of being \u200dradicalized by woke\u200c ideologies in \u200dcollege classrooms. This may be the first step towards reevaluating state support for programs that foster political activism.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
Although still in its early \u200bstages, Florida\u2063 is actively constructing an alternative vision for education that emphasizes traditional\u200d learning, American competitiveness, and\u2062 meritocratic achievement. Governor \u200dDeSantis has allocated funds to strengthen the sciences \u2064throughout Florida’s university\u200c system,\u200d with the support\u2064 of \u2063President Sasse. Additionally, he\u2064 has championed the Hamilton\u200b Center for Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida, which is dedicated to teaching and researching the ideas\u200b and traditions that form\u200b the\u2063 foundations of \u200dWestern and American\u2062 civilization. The governor has also prioritized technical \u200dworkforce education in\u2064 Florida’s college system.<\/p>\n
Dismantle the DEI Apparatus First<\/h2>\n
While many states\u200c are taking \u200dsteps to address DEI, \u200dtheir \u2063efforts may fall short if they do not present a viable alternative vision of education. Merely\u2064 dismantling\u200c DEI institutions without offering a \u2062replacement leaves room for them\u200b to \u200dresurface elsewhere. Tennessee and Ohio, for example, have established centers similar to the Hamilton Center \u2063without first dismantling the \u2063administrative DEI\u200b apparatus. This is \u2064a crucial step, \u2064as an entrenched\u2063 culture of \u2064tenured radicals can undermine \u2063any academic center. Hostile administrators are also likely\u200d to undermine, defund, and discredit institutes that promote \u2063civil discourse and intellectual diversity.<\/p>\n
It is not enough for governors\u200d to rely solely on laws and executive orders. The \u200csuccess of their efforts depends \u200don the personnel responsible for implementing these measures. Governor DeSantis has taken a comprehensive approach, uprooting the old system and installing his own. <\/p>\n
Florida understands the high stakes\u2063 involved: it’s\u200c a\u2062 choice between \u200dDEI\u2062 or \u2062the preservation of civilization. It is time for other governors to recognize these stakes and \u200ctake \u2064appropriate action.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\u2063rnrn<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Of Central Florida has not made any public announcements regarding DEI positions or offices<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1269,"featured_media":2194588,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/2048px-Florida_International_University_Parkview_Housing-e1709753056921.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2194587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/2048px-Florida_International_University_Parkview_Housing-e1709753056921.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2194587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1269"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2194587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2194587\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2194588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2194587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2194587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2194587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}