The University of Florida has eliminated all positions affiliated with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI).
The move, laid bare in a leaked administrative memo, serves as the latest in the state’s mission to nix DEI initiatives from public institutions.
University Director of Public Affairs Cynthia Roldan confirmed the cut consisted of 13 full-time positions, as well 15 administrative appointments – 28 in total.
It also marks an end to the school’s office devoted to diversity, opened just six years ago. The next year, Republican Ron DeSantis would become governor, and has since passed a litany of laws to rid schools of lessons and literature surrounding DEI.
The leaked memo cites one such law – a state Board of Governors regulation that prohibits public universities in the state from expending state or federal funds to maintain programs that ‘advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion.’
The University of Florida has eliminated all positions affiliated with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, a leaked memo sent to 28 fired staffers revealed Friday
The move, laid bare in a leaked administrative memo, serves as the latest example of the Ron DeSantis’ onslaught to eliminate DEI initiatives from public institutions.
‘To comply with the Florida Board of Governors’ regulation 9.016 on prohibited expenditures, the University of Florida has closed the Office of the Chief Diversity Officer,’ Provost J. Scott Angle and other school officials wrote.
‘[The university has also] eliminated DEI positions and administrative appointments, and halted DEI-focused contracts with outside vendors.’
The memo went on to tell the 28 pulled staffers that they would be provided with ’12 weeks of [severance pay]’, and are encouraged to apply elsewhere within the university.
Those staffers – which include boss Marsha McGriff, Assistant Director Farrah Harvey, and top administrator Wilma Rogers – were encouraged to apply now until April 19, ‘for expedited consideration for different positions currently posted with the university.’
As of writing, the school has more than a hundred open positions, though most require certain technical knowledge, or are intern of custodian roles.
‘University of Florida HR will work to fast-track the interview process and provide an answer on all applications within the twelve-week window,’ Angle and VP Amy Meyers Hass and VP for Human Resources Melissa Curry wrote.
The university also announced how the Office of the Chief Financial Officer will now reallocate roughly $5 million in funds previously reserved for DEI into a ‘faculty recruitment fund to be administered by the Office of the Provost’.
They did not state specific plans for the sum.
The leaked memo sent to the 13 full-time positions and 15 administrative appointments who had their positions eliminated, sent by Provost J. Scott Angle Angle and VP Amy Meyers Hass and VP for Human Resources Melissa Curry
The staffers – including DEI office boss Marsha McGriff,- were encouraged to apply elsewhere within the public school
She and staffers like Assistant Director Farrah Harvey and top administrator Wilma Rogers were urged to apply now until April 19, ‘for expedited consideration for different positions currently posted with the university’
The school further revealed how the move will see roughly $5 million in funds previously reserved for DEI reallocated into a ‘faculty recruitment fund to be administered by the Office of the Provost’. They did not state specific plans for the sum
Demonstrators gather at the site of a planned speech by white nationalist Richard Spencer, who popularized the term ‘alt-right’, at the campus in October 2017. Subsection 3 of Regulation 9.016 further bars state schools and their direct-support organizations from using public tax dollars on campus activities that ‘promote or engage in political or social activism
DeSantis, who celebrated the firings on social media, is seen signing a bill during a press conference at the Palm Beach PD seat in Palm Beach Thursday. He has passed several laws to rid schools of lessons and literature surrounding DEI since becoming governor in 2019
This includes the bill cited by school officials in their decision, Senate Bill 266, which the 45-year-old Florida governor signed in May, prohibiting any state and federal funds being used toward DEI in the Florida College System
The law – separate from DeSantis now-notorious Don’t Say Gay Bill – classifies these policies and lessons as ‘differential or preferential treatment’, on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, gender identity or sexual orientation
DeSantis, meanwhile, celebrated the firings on social media, and retweeted a screenshot of the memo just days after his Board of Governors officially ruled public schools could not use funds to promote DEI-related work.
‘DEI is toxic and has no place in our public universities,’ he wrote on the platform now known as X.
‘I’m glad that Florida was the first state to eliminate DEI and I hope more states follow suit.’
The ill-fated 2024 candidate went on to air another self-celebratory post on his own account, writing to his roughly 2.3million followers: ‘Florida is where DEI goes to die.’
A day before, the two-term governor signed a law that allowed for the public release of grand jury documents like those related to the 2006 Florida investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, one of several he’s passed since assuming his post in 2019.
This includes the bill cited by school officials in their decision, Senate Bill 266, which the 45-year-old Florida governor signed in May, prohibiting any state and federal funds being used toward DEI in the Florida College System.
Subsection 3 of Regulation 9.016 also bars state schools and their direct-support organizations from using public tax dollars on campus activities that ‘promote or engage in political or social activism’.
First, the statute prohibits any spending toward ‘Diversity, Equity or Inclusion’ or ‘DEI’ in any capacity, whether it be ‘campus activity,’ or policies that classify ‘individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, gender identity, or sexual orientation.’
The law – separate from DeSantis now-notorious Don’t Say Gay Bill – classifies these policies and lessons as ‘differential or preferential treatment’, on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, gender identity or sexual orientation.
School officials, meanwhile, added a defiant exclamation at the end of their internal email, writing that the University of Florida will still remain ‘unwavering in [its] commitment to universal human dignity.
‘As we educate students by thoughtfully engaging a wide range of ideas and views,’ they went on, ‘we will continue to foster a community of trust and respect for every member of the Gator Nation.
‘The University of Florida is an elite institution because of our incredible faculty who are committed to teaching, discovering, and serving,’ the memo concludes.
DailyMail.com has reached out to the University of Florida – the latest school in the Sunshine State to pull its DEI department – for comment.