University of Florida terminating all diversity, equity and inclusion positions

Ron DeSantis speaks before signing legislation on 15 May 2023 blocking public colleges from using federal or state funding for DEI programs. Photograph: Douglas R Clifford/AP

The University of Florida is terminating all its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) positions to comply with a state law passed in January that prohibits state or federal funds from being used to fund the programs.

The university, with more than 30,000 undergraduates, said in a memo issued on Friday that it was closing its office of the chief diversity officer, eliminating DEI positions and administrative appointments, and halting DEI-focused contracts with outside vendors.

DEI employees would get 12 weeks of pay and are encouraged to apply, with “expedited consideration”, for different positions at the university. The move comes as around 40 anti-DEI bills were introduced across the US last year, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

The university said it “is – and will always be – unwavering in our commitment to universal human dignity” and would continue “to foster a community of trust and respect for every member of the Gator Nation”, referring to its athletic program,

Last year, Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, signed legislation that banned public colleges from using tax dollars to implement or promote DEI initiatives. The Florida board of education followed suit, defining DEI as “programs that categorize individuals based on race or sex for the purpose of differential or preferential treatment”.

The education board also said that a “principles of sociology” course could no longer be taught and would be replaced with a general American history class.

“Higher education must return to its essential foundations of academic integrity and the pursuit of knowledge instead of being corrupted by destructive ideologies,” Florida’s commissioner of education, Manny Diaz Jr, said. The actions, he added, would ensure taxpayer money won’t be spent on DEI and “radical indoctrination that promotes division in our society”.

DeSantis posted his approval of the university’s announcement on X, saying that “DEI is toxic and has no place in our public universities. I’m glad that Florida was the first state to eliminate DEI and I hope more states follow suit.”

Florida’s move comes after the New York attorney general, Letitia James, said on Friday she would take legal action against Long Island’s Nassau county if it failed to rescind an executive order restricting transgender women and girls from participating in athletic events.

James said that an order issued last week by Nassau’s county executive, Bruce Blakeman, to prohibit athletic events that allow transgender girls to participate in accordance with their gender identity was “transphobic and blatantly illegal”.

Under the order, athletic teams, leagues, organizations and programs are required to “expressly designate” participation based on members’ sex assigned at birth. It said transgender athletes, regardless of their gender identity, would still allowed to compete in all-boys or coed leagues.

In a cease-and-desist letter, James’s office said the Nassau order violates New York’s human rights law. “The law is perfectly clear: you cannot discriminate against a person because of their gender identity or expression. We have no room for hate or bigotry in New York,” James said in a statement.

But Blakeman said he had no plans to bend to James’s threat of legal action. “In Nassau we will continue to fight for females’ right to be safe, secure, and have a level playing field to compete,” he said on X.