University of Florida Fires All DEI Staff, Reallocates $5 Million DEI Fund

The University of Florida has fired its DEI staff, dissolved DEI positions, and is reallocating its $5 million DEI budget for other purposes.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at the signing of the state's universal school choice bill at Christopher Columbus High School in Miami, on March 27, 2023. Courtesy of the Florida Governor's Office

The University of Florida announced that it’s firing all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) staff in order to comply with new state rules that prohibit DEI-related expenditures in the state’s college system.

Officials at the University of Florida announced the decision in a March 1 administrative memo, which indicates that the educational institution “has closed the Office of the Chief Diversity Officer, eliminated DEI positions and administrative appointments, and halted DEI-focused contracts with outside vendors.”