A group of Black graduates from the University of Florida (UF) are calling for the reinstatement of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs. The group called The Coalition Of Concerned Black Alumni thinks private donations should reestablish the canceled programs under the new Florida law that prohibits the use state funds for anything DEI related.
The newly formed group says “the state’s flagship university needs to reinvest in racial diversity efforts to reverse its “swift and decisive retreat from core values and principles,” USA Today reports.
UF alumni and former president of the Florida Bar Eugene Pettis founded the coalition. Last week, the group wrote a letter to UF leadership cautioning that the school is at risk of losing status if it fails to “maintain a diverse and inclusive learning environment.”
More than 100 Black graduates of UF have joined the coalition, and their principal demands are for $45 million out of UF’s $2.4 billion endowment fund to be dedicated toward re-implementing “diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives,” for a Black alumnae to be appointed to UF’s Board of Trustees, and for UF to “[b]oost efforts to increase its declining Black student enrollment and hire more Black faculty.”
Looking at the numbers, “only 5.5% of students enrolled at UF in Fall 2022 identified their ethnicity as Black. While UF undergraduate Black student applications reached a record high during the Fall 2022 admissions cycle, admission and enrollment rates for Black students have remained the same over the last 10 years,” according to student newspaper, the Independent Florida Alligator.
This stagnant enrollment rate is occurring at UF despite the fact that, “[t]he number of Black undergraduate applicants increased by 83% between the Fall 2012 and Fall 2022 admissions cycles. However, Black undergraduate enrollment has remained around 500 to 600 students each cycle during the 10-year period, a trend similar to that of other minority groups.”
In the letter, the coalition blasted UF’s decision, to eliminate its diversity office and positions, calling it “short-sighted, unimaginative, and embarrassing to many of us in the Gator Nation.”
The letter “contrasted UF’s actions with that of other state universities, which it said used ‘innovative approaches to safeguarding the progress their institutions have made to create diverse, equitable, and inclusive communities of learning.’”
“This is a moment that requires leadership, and UF must lead…History has its eyes on UF,” the letter continued.
This call to action occurred less than a month after the NAACP asked Black student-athletes to reconsider the university following the elimination of DEI positions and NFL Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith took to social media vilifying this move, writing that he was “utterly disgusted by UF’s decision and the precedent it sets.”
Cynthia Roldan, a spokeswoman for the university, wrote via email, “The University of Florida is – and will always be – unwavering in our commitment to universal human dignity.”
