University board delays presidential search again amid concerns about compliance with state DEI ban
Florida A&M University is running into a problem with the process of finding a new president: diversity, equity, and inclusion.
A 2023 state law prohibits public higher education institutions from requiring DEI statements in its hiring practices.
However, the Board of Trustees says many hiring firms that help universities find administrative leaders are still focused on DEI, the Florida Phoenix reports.
Last week, the board delayed its choice of a hiring firm again after initially putting off the decision at its Oct. 16 meeting, the report states. Florida A&M is a public, historically black university in Tallahassee.
According to the report, the trustees “expressed trepidation that the candidate firms had not been vetted thoroughly enough, especially regarding their ability to comply with Florida law barring consideration of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in hiring.”
“We’ve also identified some potential challenges with these firms not clearly understanding Florida’s DEI laws,” trustee Kelvin Lawson said.
Each of the top three firms being considered by the board mentions DEI as part of its work, according to the report:
Representatives of Diversified Search Group said it employs a vice president for DEI and that DEI is embedded in its culture; Isaacson, Miller said that DEI is at the forefront of everything it does; and Russell Reynolds said it has a global head for DEI and that DEI “trickles” into the work it does and it has included a “diverse” candidate in more than half of its searches for nonprofits.
The three firms confirmed to the board that they intend to comply with state law prohibiting universities from spending money on DEI initiatives, but some trustees expressed concern that not all firms went through the same vetting, with some mentioning concerns about future “legal predicaments” for not questioning all firms about DEI.
The university currently has an interim president, Timothy Beard, who began a one-year term in August. However, the delays could result in the term being expanded until a new president is found.
A number of states, including Florida, have been cracking down on diversity, equity, and inclusion programming in public universities.
The Florida law prohibits spending state or federal funds to advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, and mandatory DEI statements in hiring and admissions, The College Fix reported.
When Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the law in 2023, he said DEI programs “impose orthodoxy” and an “ideological agenda” based on “superficial characteristics.”
The law will “reorient our universities back to their traditional mission, and part of that traditional mission is to treat people as individuals, not to try to divvy them up based on any type of superficial characteristics,” DeSantis said at the time.
Amid growing criticism, some universities also have begun to roll back DEI on their own.
Last week, the University of Michigan announced it will no longer require diversity statements in faculty hiring, promotion and tenure decisions, The Fix reported.
It was just one step, however. Several members of the university’s board denied reports they plan to cut DEI spending.
MORE: University of Florida eliminates DEI office, DEI positions and DEI contracts
IMAGE: Florida A&M University/Facebook
Please join the conversation about our stories on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, MeWe, Rumble, Gab, Minds and Gettr.