JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Governor Ron DeSantis's office wants to know how much money is being spent by public universities in Florida on teaching Critical Race Theory and promoting diversity programs on college campuses.
Recently a memo was sent from the Governor's office to the Commissioner of Education asking for data related to programs that teach diversity on Florida's public campuses.
The process of having public universities document the amount of time these topics are taught in class and the resources used to promote them on campus are completely legal, in fact, they are written into the Florida Statute. But is documenting the amount of time these topics are discussed on campus the first step towards limiting them?
That's a question First Coast News brought to students at UNF.
The memo sent by the governor's office to the commissioner of education and the state University system chancellor states that public universities are required to document "the expenditure of state resources on programs and initiatives related to diversity, equity and inclusion, and critical race theory within our schools."
In a tweet posted Wednesday State Representative Angie Nixon views this memo as the first step to limiting discussions on diversity on college campuses.
Diversity is a topic that sophomores on UNF's campus that First Coast News spoke with feel is completely reasonable for them to learn and discus.
"I think it's perfectly ok for college students to be learning about that," said UNF sophomore Emily Cheyne. "We're grownups, we're going to be in the real world soon, we're going to have to interact with all different people and all different views."
No direct limit to diversity discussion is mentioned in the memo, but the memo does bring up the Florida Educational Equity Act, which does restrict discussions of critical race theory.
"I have heard a lot about these things in my classes," said UNF sophomore Hannah Middlebrooks, "I took a sociology class here, I took Sex, Race and Class, which was important to me. I learned a lot about critical race theory and LGBTQ resources to go to around campus as well, my experience has been good when it comes to diversity with these topics being discussed."
In November, UNF President Dr. Moez Limayem attended a Unity Rally in downtown Jacksonville to stress that his university is inclusive and welcoming to all after anti-Semitic messages were spread throughout Jacksonville.
UNF is one of 12 public universities throughout the state of Florida. A statement from a university spokesperson to First Coast News states:
UNF is in the process of gathering the information requested by the Governor's Office to submit by the provided timeline.