The University of Florida Board of Regents voted unanimously Thursday to take steps to eliminate affirmative action admissions policies.
The Board passed the One Florida Initiative, introduced by Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), which calls for the elimination of race-based and gender-based admissions.
Despite strong opposition and a protest, which took place in Gainsville, Fla. Thursday, the plan still was favored among Florida Regents.
"We certainly took opinions into account," said Florida Regent C. B. Daniel.
With approval from the Board of Regents, the plan now will move to the Florida Board of Education to await final approval.
According to Daniel, the One Florida Plan "wipes out affirmative action in the sense that it eliminates race and gender in admission policies."
|
But he said there are measures in effect designed to retain a diverse student body despite the end of formal affirmative action policies.
"Most of us felt that the affirmative action lawsuits around the country were having an adverse effect, and that we were eliminating that" by passing the One Florida Initiative, Daniel said.
"We felt diversity was too important an issue" to risk possible litigation, he said.
The Florida plan is not the first to ban affirmative action practices in higher education.
The Florida action follows California's 1996 Proposition 209 legislation, which went into effect in Aug. 1997.
Proposition 209 prohibits public institutions and establishments from discriminating against or giving preferential treatment on the basis of race or gender.
But University officials said they did not feel Florida's actions would have a large effect on University policies.
"The University's situation is different from that in Florida," University Rector John P. Ackerly III said. "In Florida Gov. Bush had already taken action to end racial and gender preferences in admissions. Gov. Gilmore has taken no such action in the Commonwealth."
The plan comes at a heated time of the affirmative action debate at the University and beyond.
The University has held to its admissions policies, but there is always the possibility that people who oppose current policies could push to eliminate race and gender as factors in admissions, Equal Opportunity Programs Director Karen E. Holt said.
The University's current policies take race into account, among other factors that also receive special consideration.
Read More
Honor Committee plans Dorm Talks and finals week initiatives
By Lexie Stadler | YesterdayIn an effort to enhance student outreach and introduce incoming students to the Honor System, the Committee will reintroduce Dorm Talks in the Fall 2024 semester.
BREAKING: Two fraternities suspended, one terminated after hazing allegations
By Ford McCracken | 2 days agoThe University’s chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha is the founding chapter of the fraternity, which was founded in West Range room 47 in 1868.
From the archives: April 22 – April 28
By Maisy Callahan and Grace Franklin | 2 days agoThose opposed to the Mall feared closing Main St. would create inconvenience and traffic, which would in turn decrease the income made by merchants.
