A state government asks one university for data on its DEI and critical race theory work

A datapoint for how American politics impacts higher education in 2023: the state of Florida just told one university to provide data about some of its academic operations. Specifically, how it spends money on diversity, equity, inclusion, and critical race theory work.

This is a developing story without a lot of information at present. I’m sharing what I can find along with some first-blush reflections. Things may well change as we learn more.

The Chronicle of Higher Education broke the story based on an email they obtained from someone at the University of North Florida. In the leaked message Karen B. Patterson, Provost and Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs, tells UNF deans that the state’s public higher education system chancellor, Raymond Rodrigues, has requested DEI support data.

In Emma Pettit’s summary:

Rodrigues’s email included a memo from DeSantis’s executive office along with an “activity survey form.”

Cousins seemed to quote from the memo, writing that it is “a request for information ‘regarding the expenditure of state resources on programs and initiatives related to diversity, equity and inclusion, and critical race theory within our state colleges and universities.’