UF indefinitely paused all activities in six non-academic Living Learning Communities Feb. 17, just days after the Trump administration’s Office for Civil Rights banned the consideration of race in any decisions made by academic institutions nationwide.
Living Learning Communities, or LLCs, were previously described as “interest-based communities of students that live together within residence halls,” but the language on UF Housing’s website has changed to “academic-based.”
Four of the six paused communities were centered around underrepresented populations, including Black, first-generation, international and LGBTQ+ students. The remainder catered to students interested in the arts and out-of-state students.
The change comes on the heels of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights’ order on Feb. 14 expanding the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling against affirmative action in college admissions. Under the order, the ban now encompasses “all other aspects of student, academic, and campus life,” including in scholarships, administrative support, graduation ceremonies and housing.
Universities that don’t comply with the order run the risk of losing federal funding.
The Trump administration’s recent flurry of orders compounds with laws from Gov. Ron DeSantis and the GOP-dominated state legislature to do away with DEI programs on college campuses. DeSantis signed a bill defunding DEI initiatives and restricting courses that teach about identity politics or systemic injustices.
To fall in line with the new state legislation, UF slashed $5 million in spending toward diversity efforts last year and shut down its Center for Inclusion and Multicultural Engagement, a hub for UF students including dedicated offices for minority groups.
UF spokesperson Cynthia Roldan wrote in an email that the pause on non-academic LLCs supported the ongoing implementation of UF’s 10-year plan for on-campus housing. She didn’t directly answer questions about why the pause only included interest- and identity-based LLCs, whether the Trump administration’s directive factored into the decision or how much funding the LLCs receive, if any.
Among the paused communities is the Lavender LLC, which was organized around themes of gender and sexuality. Established at the Springs Residential Complex in 2021, the community provided the first gender-inclusive housing arrangements at UF.
Mixed-gender suites will still be available at Springs regardless of the LLC’s fate, according to a student assistant at UF Housing, but it was unclear which floors and buildings would retain those accommodations. Roldan wrote in an email that UF Housing would work with students who have “specific requests” on a case-by-case basis.
Robin Anstett, a 20-year-old computer science junior who lived at Lavender in their freshman year, said the community gave them the peace of mind that their peers would accept their gender identity when they first came out.
“Being in a space with other queer people, seeing other queer people… things like that were really meaningful to me,” Anstett said.
As part of its programming as an LLC, Lavender hosted community events including socials, sex education and courses on LGBTQ+ and women’s history.
Kendal Broad, a UF sociology professor who taught one of Lavender’s first courses on social justice, said UF’s “diverse and resilient queer and trans student community will not just disappear” with the recent changes.
“An important question is what UF plans to do now to make sure all students are able to thrive academically and contribute in all their uniqueness to our university community,” Broad said.
The UF Pride Student Union issued a statement on Feb. 21, saying its members were “deeply disturbed” by the pause on non-academic LLCs and is prepared to “apply pressure” on administrative officials with its partners. The organization will hold a press briefing and town hall Feb. 27 on how it plans to address university actions affecting LGBTQ+ students.
Another identity-based LLC being put on hold is the Black Cultural LLC at Graham Hall. Jerry Jerome, a 23-year-old UF sustainability alum, spent his freshman year living in the Black Cultural LLC. Despite the community’s limited capacity, Jerome said making memories with other residents made his residency “a very rewarding experience.”
“Those are still relationships and friends and buddies that I’ve made that I’ll carry with me for a long time,” he said.
According to Jerome, however, the LLC was facing problems even before UF paused it last week. He said he felt there was a lack of support for the LLC from resident assistants, which mounted on disparities Black students face at UF, which has a predominantly white student population.
UF’s shutdown order also includes the First-Generation LCC at Thomas Hall. Daniel Badell, a 24-year-old UF political science and international studies alum, spearheaded the LLC’s creation in 2021 to build the support system he wished he had as a first-generation student.
Although he worried federal- and state-level orders targeting diversity programs could hurt students of color and LGBTQ+ students, Badell was “shocked” that first-generation students were also impacted. He saw the LLC as academic in nature because it supported students who were the first in their families to go to college.
“I never, ever, ever considered that first-gen would be a political football to be thrown around,” he said.
While UF could jeopardize its public funding by pushing back against state and federal orders, Badell said, continuing to wave through changes will negatively impact its student and faculty constituencies.
“This is them shooting into their own feet,” Badell said. “DeSantis and Trump and all of them — they're on a little high horse right now, but reality catches up at some point.”
The Office for Civil Rights’ letter banning race-conscious decisions states that “additional legal guidance will follow in due course,” and the Department of Education will begin assessing compliance from educational institutions by Feb. 28.
Contact Pristine Thai at pthai@alligator.org. Follow her on X @pristinethai.
Pristine Thai is a university general assignment reporter and a third-year political science and journalism major. Her free time is spent attending classical music concerts or petting cats.
