During the University of North Florida Student Government Senate meeting on Jan. 10, Student Body President Michael Barcal and Student Body Vice President Ashlyn Davidson introduced a bill that would give UNF’s Pride Club and Black Student Union a new home on campus.
Identity-based organizations have not had an official home for over eight months. They were previously housed on-campus in the Intercultural Center, Interfaith Center, LGBTQ Center, Women’s Center and Office of Diversity.
Governor DeSantis signed SB 266 into law on May 15, 2023, effectively preventing UNF and any other Florida public university from using any state or federal funding to promote, support or maintain any programs or campus activities that advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion, or engage in “political or social activism.”
By May 1, 2024, the ODI and centers were phased out in accordance with the Board of Governors regulation and the related state law.
Barcal and Davidson, with sponsorship from Senate President Audrey McGrath, introduced Title 14, named The Executive Commission Statute. The statute will allow the Black Student Union and the Pride Club to join SG as a commission.
“We knew students’ lives were being impacted by the House bill that was passed that altered the state of the former Office of Diversity and Inclusion,” Barcal said during the Senate meeting. “Our office had to act accordingly.”
Commissions are defined in the SG Senate Legislation as “an administrative division of the Executive Branch created to allow students that identify with a specific group a protective platform to express and celebrate their culture at the University of North Florida and Jacksonville community.”
Barcal explained that the idea came from looking at other universities’ solutions to the anti-DEI legislation.
“We looked at other SUS [state university system] institutions across the state of Florida and saw that UCF, UF, and FSU student governments instilled their versions of commissions over the summer months,” Barcal said, “Ashlyn and I observed their structure and used it as a foundation for the commissions here at UNF.”
Because Commissions are considered a part of SG’s annual Activity and Service fee budget, SG is able to fund these groups without violating state law and BOG regulation.
The Black Student Union and the Pride Club will officially become a part of SG and will receive $7,000 each in operating expenses. Barcal said that these commissions can use SG spaces and will have their own indexes within the A&S fee budget.
For students, Barcal and Davidson’s proposal brings hope.
Cherrae Bradshaw, a member of the multicultural sorority and fraternity Sigma Lambda Gamma and a sophomore at UNF, endorsed Barcal and Davidson’s proposal.
“I’m happy that these groups have a stable place to exist after all the turmoil these organizations have gone through in the last year. It’s important for students to feel like they have a community to depend on.” Bradshaw said. “I hope that SG allows these organizations to continue to thrive and further express themselves in a safe environment.”
After the bill’s first read, the SG senate unanimously passed Title 14 in a 15-0 vote, with Sen. Cadet and Sen. Bonilla voicing their support.
Title 14 will now go through the SG committees on Jan. 24. If it passes in committee, the bill will return to the SG senate one final time on Jan. 31.
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