A college and universities goal is to create an environment for every student to feel welcome. With your tuition dollars, every part of your public and private institution should be handling your experience with care and to benefit you as a student. But what happens when the government interferes with that plan? Introducing House Bill 999: Postsecondary Educational Institutions.
What is HB999?
Undo every concept previously mentioned because with House Bill 999: Postsecondary Educational Institutions, everything you thought you knew about higher learning and education will change in the state of Florida.
While the language in the bill is vague, cause for concern has come from minority groups in Florida who are concerned about the bill’s true purpose. According to flsenate.gov, the bill states, “
Postsecondary Educational Institutions; Revises powers & duties of BOG; revises academic & research excellence standards for preeminent state research universities; provides requirements for hiring university faculty; provides requirements for employment, promotion, & evaluation processes for state university employees; authorizes state university boards of trustees to review tenure status of faculty members.
House Bill 999
Who is this affecting?
But what does this actually mean? The Florida Legislature is debating on the bill, which would ban state universities and colleges from using their funds to support diversity, equity and inclusion efforts or Critical Race Theory rhetoric on those campuses. This would mean a complete overhaul at some of these schools, potentially dismantling certain programs on these campuses. These programs would be shut down through cut funding, and it would specifically affect the likes of Multicultural and Black greek life, diverse safe spaces on campuses and more.
This bill would also allow Florida’s board of governors to remove any course or program associated with diversity, including African American or Jewish studies. Florida Governor Ron Desantis has been in hot water recently due to his stance on “Critical Race Theory” and diversity, equity and inclusion.
CRT has become a hot topic transferring from former President Donal Trump to now Governor Desantis. Critical Race Theory according to the Anti-Defamation League, known as ADL, is “an academic and legal framework that denotes that systemic racism is part of American society — from education and housing to employment and healthcare. Critical race theory recognizes that racism is more than the result of individual bias and prejudice.”
But what do these theories have to do with our education?
As Desantis tries to roll back years of activist work being put in place, the question remains: “How will this affect me?” Florida students have already seen changes on the lower level from diverse books being taken out of there schools and changes in the curriculum dealing with diverse topics.
Not only is the actual curriculum at risk but the potential for tenured faculty members to lose their jobs is a fear no professor wants to bear with.
President of the University of Florida Andrew Gothard was quoted in the Tallahassee Democrat stating,
The restrictions on tenure, the attacks on academic freedom, the compelled speech for both students and faculty will…crush (universities)
Andrew Gothard – President, University of Florida
The fight continues!
Some Florida residents and conservatives do agree with the measures Desantis has put in place. They say that learning is “straying away” from teaching and instead “showcasing agendas.” But college students and institutions in Florida are fighting back against this law. Florida Gulf Coast University posted a statement condemning the new law, and students from the Florida Rising organization are preparing for a community stroll and contacting city leaders to get the law changed.
Photo by @fgcusg on Instagram 
Photo by @flrising on Instgaram
As students at Penn State, we can do our part by registering to vote and calling our local legislators in The Centre County area for issues we feel can negatively impact our campus. But most importantly, we must support marginalized communities that can potentially be impacted by this bill and any more bills coming into place.
How do you feel about HB999? Let us know by tweeting us @VALLEYmag
