The presidents of Florida’s 28 state and community colleges said in a statement on Wednesday that they would identify and eliminate, by February 1, any academic requirement or program “that compels belief in critical race theory or related concepts such as intersectionality.”
The unusual statement comes on the heels of a request by the office of the state’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, for public colleges and universities to submit comprehensive lists of their spending related to diversity initiatives and critical race theory. It’s unclear if Wednesday’s announcement is directly related to that request. The signatories are presidents of the Florida College System, which is distinct from the State University System of Florida, comprising 12 four-year institutions.
In their declaration, the presidents claimed that “some initiatives and instruction in higher education” under the label of diversity, equity, and inclusion have begun to betray the true purpose of DEI by seeking to “push ideologies such as critical race theory and its related tenets.”
The presidents also said they would eliminate any programs, policies, or academic requirements that compel students to believe “the idea that systems of oppression should be the primary lens through which teaching and learning are analyzed and/or improved upon.”
The statement clarified that critical race theory “or related concepts” could be taught in a course “as one of several theories and in an objective manner.”
The document is likely to raise questions about what courses and programs, if any, will be altered or eliminated, and whether the presidents’ declaration will chill academic freedom at public colleges statewide. (The presidents listed “academic freedom, freedom of expression, viewpoint diversity, and the pursuit of truth in teaching and learning” as values they hoped to protect.)
As he begins his second term as governor, DeSantis has said he wants to fight the imposition of “trendy ideology” on campuses, a yearslong crusade that his critics allege has harmed higher education in the state. He also announced a spate of new appointments to the governing board of the state’s public liberal-arts college, New College of Florida. He said the move was part of an attempt to turn it into the “Hillsdale of the South,” referring to Michigan’s Hillsdale College, which has in recent years become a favorite of conservatives. His office’s request for colleges’ spending on critical race theory and DEI referenced “policy and budget proposals” to be prepared for the coming legislative session, which begins in March.
