As Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is erased out of Washington through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), new Florida International President (FIU) Jeanette Nuñez is vowing to continue to eradicate the practice in her new role at the school.
"That's something that's been an ongoing focus for the university even before I got here. Of course, given all that we are seeing at the federal level as well, we're going to continue to root out any instances where we are discriminating against students based on race or ethnicity," Nuñez said to The Floridan's Javier Manjarres
"We want to make sure our kids are getting a great education and when they're taking classes, whether it's calculus or engineering, that they're learning those very important concepts to be able to provide for meaningful employment post-graduation because we're also measured on that" Nunez added.
Nuñez, who was Lt. Governor of Florida until a couple ago, also praised her former boss, Gov. Ron DeSantis, for a state-based DOGE initiative to audit universities and eliminate state boards and commissions the state considers to be obsolete.
"I welcome everything the governor is talking about in terms of DOGE. I think we have a responsibility to take over the reins now at this institution. It's a massive university and they've done great things," Nunez said.
While Elon Musk's DOGE has been a topic of discussion during the first 100 days of the Trump administration, Ron DeSantis' Florida DOGE idea has seemingly been in the works for quite some time.
"We are dogeing the Florida university system and the reason is because there's been a massive increase in funding, which I've supported [that] the legislature provided," DeSantis told Manjarres. "I think it's good and I think they've done a lot of good things with it, but I also know that nationally if you go back 30 years the number one growth has been administrative staff and I think that that's something that we need to make sure isn't getting out of hand here."
As governor, DeSantis has spearheaded efforts to remove DEI from Florida schools.
"We're the first state in the country to eliminate DEI and I think people now realize that was discriminatory and that's not the way you go about doing this stuff. So DEI offices closed at the University of Florida, but then where do those employees go?" DeSantis added. "Are they burrowing into other parts and then doing it by another name or are you eliminating it not just superficially? What we are going to do the universities I think it's really important."
Last September, FIU was ranked in the top 50 for best public Universities in the United States. The school also placed in the top 100 for best schools overall in the country.
Founded in 1972, FIU ranked inside the top 50 for the first time in school history. The school jumped 18 spots from 2023 among public universities and 26 spots overall.
"The investments have been well utilized because you look at our results and how we've improved in rankings, how we continue to grow in our research expenditures. "The fact we are a preeminent institution, one of only four out of the state university system in our young history because we are the youngest to ever achieve it," Nuñez added. "I think we have a great story to tell, and if there's room for improvements I welcome them and I'll champion them."
