TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA — Today, the governor’s office revealed that it is investigating Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) spending at Florida’s public institutions of higher learning.
“It is our belief that the self-reported figures from state universities in response to our memo requesting an accounting of CRT and DEI initiatives were significantly misreported and under-reported,” Governor Ron Desantis’ Press Secretary Bryan Griffin said in a statement on Thursday.
MISUSE OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS
“This speaks directly to the issue raised by the governor at the press conference on January 31 in Sarasota: these DEI and CRT bureaucracies are large, bloated, and self-serving,” Griffin said.
The governor’s office argues that the dollar amounts that have been reported so far constitute “an extraordinary misuse of taxpayer dollars to promote a political agenda at the expense of academic focus.”
Griffin provided The Florida Standard with a list of expenditures that the administration considers egregious:
- The “Chief Diversity Officer” and support staff at the University of Florida, which costs taxpayers over $750,000 per year.
- The “Center for Environmental Equity and Justice” at FAMU that costs taxpayers $1.8 million per year.
- The “Diversity and Inclusion Office” at USF which costs taxpayers over $1.1 million per year.
- The “Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” at FIU which costs taxpayers over $1 million per year.
- In addition, FIU has a separate “Office of Social Justice and Inclusion” that costs an additional $150,000 annually, billed to the taxpayer.
- The UCF Vice President for “Diversity Equity and Inclusion” and assistant are paid a combined $445,000 annually at taxpayer expense.
PUBLIC FUNDS FOR SUBVERSION
Public funds have also been used for the production of various publications and media assets. For example, Florida taxpayers have footed the bill for FSU’s “Social Justice Ally” workbook, which promotes CRT and instructs students on how to think and speak to conform to a “woke” view of society and its institutions – including telling students to “confront” their guilt.
As The Florida Standard has previously reported, CRT is a vehicle for a societal disintegration agenda rooted in Marxism and aimed at dividing Americans, preparing the field for the transition into a utopian (or rather, dystopian) collectivist society. It is based on Critical Theory, a doctrine developed by the Frankfurt School, a group of primarily German Marxist intellectuals who came to the United States in the 1930s.
“Undoubtedly, these bureaucracies are more interested in protecting their status quo and furthering their agenda rather than delivering a quality education to Florida’s students. Consequently, the Executive Office of the Governor is working to ensure that a full and truthful compilation of CRT- and DEI-related spending is gathered, and these efforts are ongoing,” Bryan Griffin concluded.
