DEI

Book removals, DEI restrictions and more. There may be fewer bills targeting social issues in Florida this session, but there's still plenty to keep an eye on.

Dr. Haywood Brown, the former vice president for diversity, inclusion and equal opportunity at USF, stepped down following comments of him talking about DEI circulated on social media.

The U.S. Department of Education said USF is among the schools that allegedly awarded "impermissible race-based scholarships," while others are accused of racial discrimination.

Lawyers for the Board of Governors said the funding part of the 2023 law is “not a direct regulation on speech” and that professors can still make presentations at conferences without university funding.

Organizers are encouraging people to not to spend any money as an act of “economic resistance” to protest billionaires, big corporations and both major political parties.

With an eye on eliminating wasteful spending and DEI initiatives, the panel would review more than 1,000 positions, university programs and local governments, and the need for about 70 boards and commissions.

The suit, filed by new Attorney General James Uthmeier, alleges that national chain violated the Securities Exchange Act by failing to disclose “the known risks” of the diversity initiatives.

In the new play at Florida Studio Theatre in Sarasota, a college professor is on the verge of a breakthrough in her work when she is accused of violating the school's DEI policies.

The six professors claim the restrictions violate educators’ and students’ speech rights. They say is has "left instructors and students fearful for the future of not only education, but also free thought and democracy in Florida.”

Accounts spread through social media said officials at the college had sent a large collection of books from its recently shuttered gender studies program to a local landfill.

The law requires professors to undergo more frequent evaluations to earn tenure. That, along with restrictions on topics about race and DEI, are causing some to leave, USF faculty say.

In a statement, a USF spokeswoman said visitors questioning the display led the administration “to look into [the] processes” of selecting all flags.