The College Fix

A group of Florida professors representing several universities in the Sunshine State along with the American Civil Liberties Union have filed a lawsuit against a law passed in 2023 that banned spending on diversity, equity and inclusion programs and clamped down on critical race theory curricula.

The lawsuit “contends that S.B. 266 violates First Amendment protections by compelling viewpoint-based censorship and undermining the free exchange of ideas in public universities,” states a news release from the Florida ACLU.

The federal lawsuit, filed Thursday, alleges the law restricted or eliminated courses, cut funding for DEI initiatives, impeded academic research, and stifled student voices, the news release states. The complaint comes about a year-and-a-half after Gov. Ron DeSantis declared “whole experiment of DEI is coming to an end in the state of Florida.”

The complaint contents academic freedom is in danger and government overreach must be beat back. It seeks a preliminary and permanent injunction against the law, calling it unconstitutional.

One major point of contention seems to be how universities are not outright canceling classes, but rather removing their general education designation. If a class does not have a general education designation, most students won’t enroll and a college will be hesitant to offer it because it won’t attract many students.

“The vague and overly broad language of S.B. 266 forces educators to self-censor, depriving students of a comprehensive education,” stated Professor Sharon Austin, a lead plaintiff in the case. Austin is former director of the University of Florida’s African American Studies Program.

“The lawsuit said university officials in April denied funding to allow Austin to attend an international conference hosted by the Diversity Abroad organization, although she had received funding the previous year. The university’s provost office also flagged two of Austin’s courses — ‘Politics of Race’ and ‘Black Horror and Social Justice’ for not complying with the law, according to the lawsuit,” Jax Today reported.

“Austin attempted to address the university’s concern that the courses violated the law’s text about ‘identity politics and systemic racism,’ but was told in December that neither course was approved for general-education designation.”

Another plaintiff is Jean Rahier, a professor of anthropology and African and African Diaspora Studies at Florida International University. Last summer Rahier learned two of his courses, “Black Popular Cultures: Global Dimensions” and “Myth, Ritual, and Mysticism,” had been removed from the general education curriculum due to concerns it violated S.B. 266, the lawsuit alleges, adding:

At the Chair’s suggestion, Plaintiff Rahier and the other professors agreed to remove the word “myth” from the course title, as well as remove the word “supernatural” from the course description. Despite making these changes, however, Plaintiff Rahier was informed in September 2024 that his courses still would not be reinstated. Both “Black Popular Cultures: Global Dimensions” and “Myth, Ritual, and Mysticism” were popular courses among students at FIU and, due to their high numbers of enrollment, provided important funding to the African and African Diaspora Studies Program and the Global and Sociocultural Studies Department, respectively. Because of their removal from the general education curriculum, students are less likely to enroll in Plaintiff Rahier’s courses and, thus, the African and African Diaspora Studies Program and the Global and Sociocultural Studies Department are in jeopardy of losing key funding.

The lawsuit also alleges there’s hypocrisy embedded in the law.

“The lawsuit points out that the state funds the Hamilton Center, a UF academic center ‘devoted to research and teaching on Western civilization.’ Plaintiffs argue that the topics at the Hamilton Center ‘fall within the State’s preferred view of the Western Canon and related speech … although they also arguably fall within ‘political or social activism’ but have not been targeted,'” the Florida Phoenix reported.

As The College Fix previously reported, the law states public institutions “may not expend any state or federal funds to promote, support, or maintain any programs or campus activities that … advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, or promote or engage in political or social activism.”

It also tackled the curriculum, stating general education courses “must be based on the fundamental truth that all persons are equal before the law and have inalienable rights.”

Lessons may not teach identity politics or be “based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, or privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States and were created to maintain social, political, or economic inequities,” the law states.

One week ago, a similar lawsuit was filed in Alabama, alleging its state law cracking down on DEI is unconstitutional.

MORE: Gov. DeSantis signs law to defund, eliminate universities’ DEI programs

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