The University of Florida recently announced it would end the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) bureaucracy on campus. More universities should follow suit.
Last May, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 266, the so-called anti-woke law, prohibiting institutions from spending federal or state dollars on discriminatory initiatives, such as DEI programs. A month later, Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed a similar bill into law for the Lone Star State.
In compliance with Florida’s anti-woke law, the University of Florida, the state’s largest public university, said it would fire all DEI staff, shut down its DEI office, and suspend DEI contracts with outside vendors. The university will redistribute its $5 million-a-year DEI budget to a faculty recruitment fund. Ben Sasse, UF’s president and former Republican senator from Nebraska, said a university’s core mission is “to prepare for life and thoughtful citizenship and engagement and caring about the good, the true, and the beautiful.”
Unfortunately, the primary focus of many colleges and universities around the nation continues to be promoting DEI, not educating young people. A 2021 report by the Heritage Foundation found colleges and universities have devoted significant resources to establishing and operating the DEI bureaucracy. For example, in 2021, the University of Michigan had 163 DEI employees, 14 times more than the staff assisting students with disabilities. Virginia Tech had 83 DEI staffers, and it was one of several universities with twice as many DEI personnel as history faculty, which tells you what the school’s priorities are.
The DEI bureaucracy has expanded and become more expensive
