Now it’s up to the Board of Governors to fulfill the governor’s vision by defining the terms in the law. The draft regulation is just as broadly conceived as the aforementioned law. In addition to defining “social issues” as “topics that polarize or divide society among political, ideological, moral, or religious beliefs, positions, or norms,” it defines “political or social activism” as “any activity organized with a purpose of effecting or preventing change to a government policy, action, or function, or any activity intended to achieve a desired result related to social issues, where the university endorses or promotes a position in communications, advertisements, programs.” “Diversity, equity, or inclusion,” meanwhile, “is any program, activity, or policy that promotes differential or preferential treatment of individuals, or classifies such individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, gender identity, or sexual orientation.”
The draft language is being circulated to public universities for comment ahead of the board’s November 8 and 9 meetings, with final approval expected in January. In the meantime, the law that mandated the regulation is headed for a court date.
Consider the scene back when DeSantis signed SB 266. The ceremony was held at the New College of Florida, a public liberal arts college that was forced to alter its curriculum and programs in accord with the governor’s mandates. DeSantis is taking pride in systematically remaking the school, which has a long history of protest, in his own image. In January, he installed conservative ideologue and education foe Christopher Rufo as a member of the college’s board of trustees. During the bill signing in May, Rufo mocked the student protestors who could be heard outside. In August, with New College having lost more than a third of its faculty ahead of the fall semester, DeSantis hailed the “replacement of far-left faculty with new professors aligned with the university’s mission.”