Claim: University of Florida Officials “Lied Through Their Teeth” by Massively Downplaying Vast Scope of DEI Work in Official Filing to DeSantis

In an exclusive by The Daily Mail, Christopher Rufo, a DeSantis education hire, alleges that University of Florida officials downplayed the scale of their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs.

Rufo accuses University officials of ‘lying through their teeth’ by severely underreporting the vast scope of DEI programs on campus in an official filing to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

In January, the DeSantis administration sent a letter to state colleges and universities asking them to make a list of programs and activities related to critical race theory and diversity. The letter asked for the following:

-Brief description of the program or activity

-Positions, including full and partial FTE

-Total funding spent to support the initiative

-Of the total spent to support the initiative, the amount that is state funded

In its official reply to this request, UF reported 30 to 40 DEI schemes at a cost of more than $5 million per year.

Rufo, however, has uncovered more than 1,000 separate DEI programs at the university.

The Daily Mail reports: 

‘I’ve discovered through public records requests and the threat of litigation, that the University of Florida, which is under the purview of a Red state legislature, explicitly lied to the governor, in its official response to his request about their DEI programs,’ Rufo told DailyMail.com.

‘But I’ve discovered through these bombshell documents that they, in fact, had more than 1,000 separate DEI programs embedded in every facet of the university’s programs and administration.’

EXCLUSIVE: I’ve obtained public records proving that the University of Florida lied to Governor DeSantis about its DEI programs. The university initially claimed to have only 31 DEI initiatives—but the true number was more than 1,000.https://t.co/ozs2jWxFqL

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) July 16, 2023

Further, Rufo told the Daily Mail, “The problem was much bigger than just the University of Florida … And then when they’re discovered, they make every attempt to hide, obfuscate and conceal the true nature of what’s happening inside their institutions.”

In January, DeSantis announced the appointment of six conservative board members to the liberal New College of Florida, including Rufo.