Specifically, the rule prohibits colleges from using state or federal funds to administer any program that categorizes people based on race or sex for the purpose of differential treatment. “Higher education must return to its essential foundations of academic integrity and the pursuit of knowledge instead of being corrupted by destructive ideologies,” Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz, Jr. said in a statement about the new policy. “These actions today ensure that we will not spend taxpayers’ money supporting DEI and radical indoctrination that promotes division in our society.” Florida officials have already put similar restrictions in place, but the Board’s passage of this policy on Jan. 17 officially implements the new policy for state’s college system. The Florida Education Department also says it has replaced a “Principles of Sociology” course with a general education course in American history. The goal, officials say, is to give students “an accurate and factual account of the nation's past, rather than exposing them to radical woke ideologies, which had become commonplace in the now replaced course.” The core courses rule also adds “Introduction to Geology” and “Introduction to Oceanography” as new new options under sciences coursework, and makes “Introductory Survey to 1877” as an alternative to sociology. Last May, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill that paved that way for funding restrictions on college DEI programs. "If you look at the way this has actually been implemented across the country, DEI is better viewed as standing for discrimination, exclusion and indoctrination," DeSantis said during a news conference after he signed the legislation. "And that has no place in our public institutions,” he added. "This bill says the whole experiment with DEI is coming to an end in the state of Florida. We are eliminating the DEI programs." Part of the law considers it discrimination to subject students or employees to training or classes that would “compel” them to believe that a “person, by virtue of his or her race, color, national origin, or sex, should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment to achieve diversity, equity, or inclusion.”Florida’s Board of Education has rolled out new regulations that restrict the use of public funds for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs in the state’s college system.
