The State University System of Florida has approved new regulations in compliance with Senate Bill 266 despite public opposition and student pushback, Inside Higher Ed reports. The bill prohibits public colleges and universities from using state funding for any activities related to DEI or “political or social activism.” Using language similar to that of the recent Texas Senate Bill 17, regulations define DEI as “any program, campus activity, or policy that classifies individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, gender identity, or sexual orientation and promotes differential or preferential treatment of individuals on the basis of such classification.”
During a hearing on “confronting the scourge of antisemitism on campus,” House Republicans accused DEI programs of contributing to the increase of antisemitic rhetoric and incidents on college campuses, Inside Higher Ed reports. Republicans criticized the rise in antisemitism since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, arguing that DEI programs promote hatred by dividing students into “either the oppressed or the oppressors.” Some lawmakers argued that Jewish students are neither supported nor considered by campus DEI programs, creating an unwelcoming and hostile environment that does not protect Jewish students despite protecting other minority groups.
Reporting from The Chronicle highlights the barriers to accessing higher education among Black high school students in rural communities. The Virginia College Advising Corps (VCAC), a member of the nonprofit organization College Advising Corps, focuses on helping teenagers from high schools that do not send many students to college gain access to opportunities in higher education. VCAC helped more than 8,000 students across the state attend college in 2021 and 2022. Reporters for The Chronicle traveled to Sussex Central High School, a majority Black institution in south central Virginia with high poverty rates. In 2023, 10% of potential graduates at Sussex Central had dropped out before earning a high school diploma. The College Advising Corps aims to increase college attendance among students from rural, underserved communities.