The College Fix says the Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF) has sent letters to the University of North Florida, the University of West Florida, and Florida International University.
It is urging the institutions to revise their Title IX policies and protect the First Amendment right to free speech of students.
Their letter cites reported examples, including a Florida International policy redefining sex to include "gender expression, gender identity, and sexual orientation." Therefore, students can be found guilty of discrimination if they do not recognize preferred pronouns or complain about men in women’s restrooms.
Another example is a University of West Florida "harassment" policy that allows the school to take "disciplinary measures against a speaker" before they are given a "fair trial."
In a press release regarding the letters, SLF demanded “that each university make the necessary revisions, so that ‘students can freely exercise their First Amendment right to the fullest extent’.”
Aaron DiPietro is Legislative Affairs Director for Florida Family Voice who commented on this issue.
"Well, I will say, obviously, these are Biden-era regulations and guidelines that are still finding themselves left in the guidelines of several Florida universities."
The recent appointment of Attorney General James Uthmeier in Florida could change that.
DiPietro said A.G. Uthmeier has taken a very aggressive approach to dealing with these types of harmful policies and is aggressively pursuing their removal.
"The second front would be that Governor Ron DeSantis has likewise taken a different tact in seeking to remove some of these harmful policies by targeting Board of Trustees appointments and also who, in turn, appoint the presidents of these different colleges and universities," DiPietro states.
DiPietro pointed out two of the aforementioned universities recently got new presidents, both close DeSantis allies.
"One is actually former Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nunez, who just took over Florida International University, and then former or outgoing commissioner of education, Manny Diaz, who's been on the forefront of defending parental rights and opposing the sexualization of children in schools, just got appointed as the interim president for the University of West Florida,” DiPietro said.
He said hopefully these new leaders will bring some common sense reforms to what he described as these liberal guidelines and policies still on the books in Florida.
