Professors’ Suit Against State DEI Funding Ban Largely Dismissed

By Jay Waagmeester, Florida Phoenix

Complaints filed by professors “disrupted” by Florida’s ban against diversity, equity, and inclusion spending were mostly dismissed by a federal judge last week.

The academics, through American Civil Liberties Union attorneys, filed the suit against the state earlier this year, claiming SB 266 from 2023 imposed viewpoint discrimination under the First Amendment, that the law is over-broad, and that it violates Florida’s Campus Free Expression Act.

Thursday, U.S. District Judge Mark Walker dismissed the complaints that SB 266 “left instructors and students fearful for the future of not only education, but also free thought and democracy in Florida.”

The law banned general education courses “based on unproven, speculative, or exploratory content.”

“In short, this Court agrees with Defendants that Plaintiffs fail to allege facts demonstrating that they have suffered a plausible constitutional injury with respect to their claims challenging the general education requirements,” Walker wrote. “Instead, Plaintiffs’ allegations and arguments attacking the language governing and application of the general education requirements are largely rooted in policy disagreements.”

Professors, in their original 66-page complaint, argued they’ve altered course titles and descriptions to comply with the statute “without clarity on how to comply with the law.”

The Legislature left it up to the Board of Governors to define diversity, equity, and inclusion; political or social activism; and social issues. 

The definitions, the plaintiffs argued in their original complaint, have been interpreted by the Board of Governors and university trustees “to align with Governor DeSantis’s viewpoints.”

The governor holds the power to appoint members to the Board of Governors and university boards of trustees. 

“Plaintiffs’ alleged injury in fact with respect to these provisions boils down to self-censorship, but their factual allegations demonstrate that this harm is self-imposed. The alleged chill and self-censorship of Plaintiffs’ in-class speech is a self-imposed injury based on the fear of losing a course designation to which no Plaintiff is constitutionally entitled,” Walker wrote. 

During a news conference at the University of Florida on Monday commemorating 10 years of Florida ranking as the best state in the nation in higher education by U.S. News & World Report, State University System Chancellor Ray Rodrigues celebrated the ruling.

“Our focus on academic excellence is why our system is so successful,” Rodrigues said. “And we’re the only state to have done that. The other states just don’t have the stomach to take on the fight to clear this out of their general education curriculum. But Florida has led the way and now we have shown it can be done, so let’s hope others follow.”

Walker did find that Sharon Austin, a political science professor at UF, has, on a First Amendment basis, “plausibly alleged standing to challenge the funding restrictions” SB 266 imposed on her when the university declined to fund her travel to a conference it had previously paid for her to attend. 

The university denied funding her travel to “the Global Inclusion Conference” in 2024, specifically citing SB 266, which also prohibits the state from expending funds to “advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, or promote or engage in political or social activism.” She attended the conference on the state’s dime in 2023. 

“Given UF’s recent enforcement of the funding restrictions against Dr. Austin and her specific plans to apply for funding to attend and present at the same and similar events in the near future, this Court is persuaded that Dr. Austin, at this juncture, has alleged facts demonstrating a plausible injury in fact — the denial of funds and imminent threatened denial of funding — traceable to the Defendants’ enforcement of the challenged funding restrictions and redressable by an injunction prohibiting further enforcement,” Walker wrote. 

Walker, appointed by former President Barack Obama, said the plaintiffs may not file an amended complaint.