The state’s crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion within higher education has claimed UF’s Center for Inclusion and Multicultural Engagement (CIME), suspending the center’s programs and resources and shuttering its cultural student engagement offices.
The center’s future has remained murky since March when UF eliminated all state-funded DEI programs to comply with Senate Bill 266. According to a state-mandated audit of UF’s DEI programs, state funding accounted for 85% of CIME’s operating budget in 2022-2023.
According to a sign posted on the door to the center’s main suite, CIME is closed until Aug. 5 for refurbishment. Its website has been taken down for construction and its social media accounts are inactive.
UF spokesperson Steve Orlando said CIME is undergoing changes to comply with the law and more information about the center’s transition will be available in the coming weeks.
The center houses four cultural student engagement offices including the Office of Hispanic Latinx Student Engagement, the Office of Black Student Engagement, the Office of Asian Pacific Islander Desi Student Engagement and the Office of LGBTQ+ Student Engagement. The university did not clarify whether the offices would remain in the center after its rebrand.
According to an Aug. 2 Instagram post made by the Hispanic Student Association, students and campus organizations have been “left in the dark” about the changes for weeks. The post said students nor the HSA have received communication regarding what resources and programs will be made available once the CIME rebrand is complete.
Hispanic Student Association President Matthew Urra said the future of the offices is unclear. Complaints of poor communication and a lack of transparency by university administrators are driving concern among students that CIME and all its offerings will not return.
“The current concern is whether or not the individual spaces within the office will still exist,” said the 21-year-old UF political science senior. “The follow up to that is whether or not any of the programs and resources previously available through those offices will be maintained through the rebrand or transformation or if that’s something that’s also going to be axed.”
Urra said CIME’s name is being changed to the Office of Community and Belonging with some administrative titles appearing to already be switched over. No official statement regarding the name change has been made.
Urra said the suspension of CIME’s programs, which include a variety of initiatives aimed at supporting marginalized communities at UF, contributes to an environment where students are feeling increasingly devalued.
Urra participated in ADELANTE, an early arrival program for incoming Hispanic-Latinx freshmen. He said the program “provided an opportunity for students to engage in meaningful and important discussions.”
Without it, he said, “students are not going to feel as represented or as connected to the university.”
In March, UF under former President Ben Sasse fired 13 full-time DEI positions and 15 administrative appointments for faculty to comply with SB 266. UF also reallocated $5 million in funds previously allotted to UF DEI initiatives toward a faculty recruitment fund managed by the provost.
While Urra said he hopes a new university president will be more receptive to student concerns, he’s not optimistic.
“I don't think that the university is that open to change or really listening to student needs,” he said. “Students feel like… the university doesn’t care about them.”
Gator Chapter NAACP President Thomas Cusido, a 21-year-old UF political science senior, said he’s concerned about the legislation “snowballing to greater changes.”
“Right now we’re seeing major changes already,” he said. “How big of an effect is this legislation going to have?”
Cusido said the suspension of another early arrival program, Pledging to Advance Academic Capacity Together, and the closure of the Office of Black Student Engagement, also called the Black Enrichment Center, is a reality check for many students.
“When the news broke… a lot of students felt a great sense of despair or sadness because they’ve grown attached to the Black Enrichment Center,” he said. “I think Black students start to realize that the community here is being attacked and just not safe or as safe as it could be. [UF is] proving to be very hostile when it comes to DEI and Black students in general.”
Sandra Ukah, a 19-year-old UF political science sophomore who was a PAACT member her freshman year, said UF is taking compliance with SB 266 too far.
“UF is being overly aggressive to certain spaces,” she said. “I’m just surprised by all of it… because I don’t think other schools are implementing it as harshly as UF has decided to.”
Ukah said the PAACT program helped introduce her to a community and provide a foundation for her college experience. She said she was “very upset” about the program’s suspension and found it unfortunate considering UF’s lack of minority representation in its population.
“It kind of makes you question, are we valued at this university?” she said. “It just feels like we are being used at the expense of the culture war that’s going on in the state. I don’t think it’s a good look at all.”
Black enrollment at UF has steadily declined from its peak of 10.1% of total students in 2009 to 5.4% in Fall 2023, according to UF enrollment and demographic data. Without programs like PAACT and other DEI initiatives, other minority groups may see similar trends.
“I don’t think that [students] are going to exactly feel welcome here especially given the greater context of what’s happening in the state,” Ukah said.
Gator Chapter NAACP Former-President Timothy Sinclair, a 22-year-old philosophy and criminology fifth-year, described the situation as “a state of limbo” and said the changes to CIME threaten UF’s commitment to inclusion as one of its core values.
Sinclair also said he’s worried about the university’s ability to accommodate all students given state legislation.
“[I’m] concerned that those who are the legislators for our state are becoming more and more disconnected about what it means to create a community,” he said.
The Gator Chapter of the NAACP and the HSA have plans to fight back against the recent changes. The NAACP is working with organizations across the state to overturn divisive legislation, specifically SB 266.
The HSA will be hosting an ADELANTE replacement program in September as well as a state of the union event to address the changes affecting DEI, HSA, other organizations and campus life. Dates for both events are tentative.
“It’ll definitely be an obstacle,” Sinclair said. “[But] students will adapt to whatever the state throws at us, and we’ll find a way to support our diversity and cherish our heritage in our own way.”
Contact Grace McClung at gmcclung@alligator.org. Follow her on X @gracenmclung
Grace McClung is a third-year journalism major and the graduate & professional school reporter for The Alligator. In her free time, Grace can be found running, going to the beach and writing poetry.
