Edward Bunch IIIPensacola News Journal
As the third week of classes begin at the University of West Florida, some students say they're concerned about the wellbeing of themselves and their peers should state officials continue their “war on woke.”
Florida’s colleges and universities have come under a national scope following recent laws passed by the state’s legislature that target the existence of diversity, equity and inclusion programs on campuses statewide. Additionally, Florida Department of Education officialsin a Jan. 12 letterrejected aspects ofthe Advanced Placement African American Studiescurriculum at the high school level, saying it violated state law and was "significantly" lacking in educational value.
Combined with the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to strike down affirmative action policies for the admissions processes at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, a ruling that could cause a ripple effect at other universities across the nation, the alarm bells have rung for some UWF students.
"Specifically trying to erase Black History in schools feels like we're going back in time," said Ashley Dejoie, a senior at UWF.
The Office of Gov. Ron DeSantis and the University of West Florida did not respond to requests for comment.
Florida’s “Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees Act” or “Stop WOKE Act” was signed last year in an effort to restrict how race is discussed and analyzed within Florida’s work and education settings, as well as to “give businesses, employees, children and families tools to fight back against woke indoctrination.”
Under the Stop WOKE Act, schools and universities are prohibited from teaching material that could make students feel personally responsible for historic wrongs because of their race, color sex or national origin. It also requires that university officials review any lessons “based on theories that systemic racism, sexism and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States and were created to maintain social, political and economic inequities.”
U.S. District Judge Mark Walker deemed the law unconstitutional in August, ruling that it violates First Amendment rights and is impermissibly vague. Walker refused to issue a stay that would keep the law in effect during any appeal made by the state and made it unenforceable among corporations and employers. Walker then blocked the bill's higher-education provision last November.
In March, a three-judge panel with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request for a stay of Walker's injunction. The bill remains enforceable in K-12 schools at the time of writing.
Gov. DeSantis has been vocal about his fight against “woke” culture and policies in place within Florida as well as the nation during his campaign for president.
“What you see now with the rise of this woke ideology is an attempt to really delegitimize our history and to delegitimize our institutions, and I view the wokeness as a form of cultural Marxism,” DeSantis said in a December 2021 speech. “They really want to tear at the fabric of our society.”
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In May, DeSantis signed SB 266, which bans the spending of state or federal fundingto promote, support or maintain any programs that “advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, or promote or engage in political or social activism,” by state universities.
The legislation could be a big hit for historically-black organizations like the Divine Nine, whose origins are based in African American students' struggles with finding community in college due to being ostracized or banned from most social organizations, according to the NAACP.
“Just understanding what minority groups, people of color and women have to go through in terms of stereotypes, not getting the same opportunities in the classroom and not getting the same sort of attention that other students may have, it’s a bummer,” said Kaleb Libby, a second-year graduate student who is in the Industrial Organizational Psychology program at UWF.
“Data shows that diversity is essential for workplaces to thrive. It leads to a lot more creativity and getting out of group think. I think universities do benefit from having some type of plan to make sure they are culturally diverse,” Libby said.
Libby works in the Student Engagement Office at UWF where he often interacts with predominantly-minority organizations on campus, such as the Divine Nine sorority and fraternal groups whose members have been predominantly Black throughout their history.
“(I’m) just worrying about what’s gonna happen to these groups that have had to be built out of hardships and built out of times where they weren’t allowed into other societies,” Libby said.
“In a perfect world, yeah you want to live in a place that doesn’t even need affirmative action,” said D.J. Washington, another second-year graduate student at UWF in the Industrial Organizational Psychology program. “But we’re (society) not at the place right now where you feel like opportunities are equitably offered across the board.”
The NAACP issued a travel advisory for Florida in May as a "direct response to Governor Ron DeSantis' aggressive attempts to erase Black history and to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in Florida schools" and wrote the state is "openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals" in a press statement.
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the oldest Black fraternal organization in the country, is one of many organizations protesting SB 266 as well as attacks on Black history in Florida. In response to the state’s decisions concerning diversity, they have pulled their 2025 convention out of Orlando "due to Governor Ron DeSantis’ harmful, racist, and insensitive policies against the Black community," according to a news release from Alpha Phi Alpha.
Brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha’s Mu Theta Chapter, UWF’s affiliated chapter for the organization, spoke out against the attacks on diversity.
“Me personally, I don’t think that’s right. I feel like if we as a people can come together and fight back against him (Gov. DeSantis) we can make a change for real,” said Jayden Lewis, a spring 2023 initiate to the Mu Theta Chapter.
“It starts with action, sitting down and talking with everybody from different organizations and different places … what are we actually going to do instead of just talking about it?” Lewis said. “If we just keep it on the backburner, it’s gonna come back to bite us.”
Darien Gilbert, who has been a brother of the Mu Theta Chapter since Fall 2021, said, “We (The Divine Nine) should have a say if they’re gonna come for our funding and events so that when we come to places like Florida, we can feel welcome on these campuses. By taking away our funds, it’s a way of saying, 'We don’t really want you, we know y’all are there, but we don’t really want you.'
“All throughout time, individuals have been put in places of power to try and take away from what we got going on, but we always come out on top,” Gilbert said. “We gotta have unity; yeah there’s a nice rivalry here and there between fraternities and sororities but at times like these we gotta put those aside and come together as one to fight the real cause of this problem … if not we’ll be fighting with each other and end up not on campus at all.”
Each of the brothers from the Mu Theta Chapter felt that being in the Alpha Phi Alpha organization has brought them brotherhood, community and mentorship.
“You don’t really see it until you start traveling, but it’s just a big brotherhood,” Lewis said. “I came from a family where I had two sisters and I was the only dude, so I didn’t really have that male father figure. Coming into the fraternity opened my eyes to a whole different feeling of knowing that if I call him, I can get help. Even if I’m down bad, he’s gonna be there to pick me up.”
Matthew Sims, a spring 2023 initiate to the Mu Theta Chapter, also spoke to the positive impact of having organizations like this on campus.
“Growing up, I didn’t really have much confidence in myself but being surrounded by these brothers, they helped mold me into who I am today. Thinking back to the founders, they made things happen in impossible situations so that really uplifted me and boosted me as well.
“I also enjoy the community service aspect because I know that for a lot of people, when they get successful they forget about their community. It’s great to give back to the people who helped you,” Sims continued.
