Florida Universities

The board of Florida's only public historically Black university has chosen a lobbyist with ties to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to be the school's next president, alarming students, faculty and alumni.

It's ahead of a "safety summit" in October so lawmakers will have time to make budget requests for the 2026 legislative session.

The March 28 injunction ruling focused on the students, who are from China and say the law has prevented them from working as graduate teaching assistants, positions that carry stipends and other benefits.

A handful of Florida universities, including UF, are now officially signed on to have campus cops help Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, while faculty at three universities have asked for a halt to the program.

School representatives confirmed to the Associated Press that the University of South Florida, Florida Atlantic University and the University of Florida are seeking to deputize their campus police for immigration enforcement.

It orders the DOGE team to work with the State Board of Education and university system’s Board of Governors to flag “unnecessary spending, programs, courses, staff and any other inefficiencies.”

Perez equated a 2022 law that provided exemptions to public-records and public-meetings laws for presidential searches to a “spoil system,” which he said the House bill (HB 1321) seeks to rectify.

A bill in the Florida Legislature would set up a yearlong “Hunger-Free Campus” pilot program at three state colleges or universities.

A Florida House panel Wednesday unanimously approved a bill that would repeal a law shielding information about presidential candidates from public disclosure.

Lawyers for the Board of Governors said the funding part of the 2023 law is “not a direct regulation on speech” and that professors can still make presentations at conferences without university funding.

With an eye on eliminating wasteful spending and DEI initiatives, the panel would review more than 1,000 positions, university programs and local governments, and the need for about 70 boards and commissions.

The Florida university system’s Board of Governors acknowledged the need to provide help so universities can compete against other schools, but money directed toward academics should not be used.