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The University of Central Florida removed the statements of several academic departments on race, citing a new Florida law, The Washington Post reported.
The new law bars actions that would cause someone to feel guilty or ashamed about the past collective actions of their race or sex.
“The university recently removed some departmental statements that could be seen as potentially inconsistent with our commitment to creating a welcoming environment—one where faculty objectively engage students in robust, scholarly discussions that expand their knowledge and empower them to freely express their views and form their own perspectives,” Chad Binette, a spokesman for the university, wrote in an email.
Binette said guidance given to faculty members about the new state law said colleges “may not subject any student or employee to training or instruction that ‘espouses, promotes, advances, inculcates, or compels such student or employee to believe’ any of eight ‘specified concepts’” based on race, color, sex or national origin because such action would be discriminatory under the statute.
One of the statements removed was from the philosophy department. It said, “We acknowledge the key place of the university as a site of struggle for social justice and are committed to addressing the problem of anti-Blackness, white supremacy, and all forms of implicit and explicit racism in our professions, wherever we find it, even if in our own department.”
