A group of Florida academics who represent a number of Sunshine State universities and the American Civil Liberties Union have filed a complaint against a law that was passed in 2023 that forbids funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and restates the requirements for critical race theory programs.
The complaint” contends that S. B. According to a media release from the Florida ACLU, 266 violates First Amendment privileges by requiring viewpoint-based censorship and undermining the freedom of the exchange of ideas in open institutions.
The federal lawsuit, filed Thursday, alleges the law restricted or eliminated programs, reduce funding for La activities, impeded scientific research, and stifled student tones, the news release says. The complaint comes about a year-and-a-half after Gov. Ron DeSantis stated that” the state of Florida is coming an end to the entire DEI experiment.”
The complaint claims that academic freedom is in danger and that government overreach must be punished. It seeks a preliminary and permanent injunction against the law, calling it unconstitutional.
The fact that universities aren’t simply renouncing classes, but rather removing their general education designation seems to be a major source of contention. Most students won’t enroll in a course without a general education designation, and colleges will be reluctant to offer it because it won’t appeal to many students.
” The hazy and overly broad language of S. B. 266 forces educators to self-censor, depriving students of a comprehensive education”, stated Professor Sharon Austin, a lead plaintiff in the case. The African American Studies Program at the University of Florida was previously led by Austin.
” Despite receiving funding the previous year, university officials in April denied funding to allow Austin to attend an international conference hosted by the Diversity Abroad organization. The university’s provost office also flagged two of Austin’s courses — ‘ Politics of Race’ and ‘ Black Horror and Social Justice’ for not complying with the law, according to the lawsuit”, Jax Today reported.
” Austin attempted to address the university’s concern that the courses violated the law’s text about’ identity politics and systemic racism,’ but was told in December that neither course was approved for general-education designation”.
Jean Rahier, a professor of anthropology and African and African Diaspora Studies at Florida International University, is one of the other applicants. Last summer Rahier learned two of his courses,” Black Popular Cultures: Global Dimensions” and” Myth, Ritual, and Mysticism”, had been removed from the general education curriculum due to concerns it violated S. B. 266, the lawsuit alleges, adding:
At the Chair’s suggestion, Plaintiff Rahier and the other professors agreed to remove the word “myth” from the course title, as well as remove the word” supernatural” from the course description. Despite making these changes, however, Plaintiff Rahier was informed in September 2024 that his courses still would not be reinstated. Both” Black Popular Cultures: Global Dimensions” and” Myth, Ritual, and Mysticism” were popular courses among students at FIU and, due to their high numbers of enrollment, provided important funding to the African and African Diaspora Studies Program and the Global and Sociocultural Studies Department, respectively. Students are less likely to enroll in Plaintiff Rahier’s courses because they are no longer included in the general education curriculum, and as a result, the African and African Diaspora Studies Program and the Global and Sociocultural Studies Department are in danger of losing important funding.
Additionally, the lawsuit asserts that there is hypocrisy in the law.
The lawsuit asserts that the state provides funding for the Hamilton Center, a UF academic facility devoted to Western civilization research and instruction. The Hamilton Center’s speakers assert that the topics at issue “fall within the State’s preferred view of the Western Canon and related speech,” but they also “pose a threat to political or social activism” but haven’t been targeted, according to the Florida Phoenix.
As The College Fix previously reported, the law states , public institutions “may not expend any state or federal funds to promote, support, or maintain any programs or campus activities that … advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, or promote or engage in political or social activism”.
It also addressed the curriculum, stating that general education courses “must be grounded in the fundamental truth that all people are equal before the law and have inalienable rights.”
Lessons may not teach identity politics or be “based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, or privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States and were created to maintain social, political, or economic inequities”, the law states.
One week ago, a similar lawsuit was filed in Alabama, alleging its state law cracking down on DEI is unconstitutional.
MORE: Gov. DeSantis signs law to defund, eliminate universities ‘ DEI programs
IMAGE: Ron DeSantis / Facebook
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