by Autumn Johnstone
In 2024, the UF Student Senate agreed upon the importance of funding programs and clubs centered around diversity, equity, and inclusion. Yet, months after President Trump’s inauguration and several passed Florida state government bills later, we have found this to simply not be the case anymore.
Funding for the welcome assemblies of several identity-based student organizations has been cut for the following year, such as the Pride Student Union and Black Student Union.
As a student myself, my most memorable first impression of UF’s expansive student body was attending PSU’s welcome assembly in fall 2024. In the University Auditorium with about 400 students seated around me, I had a visceral feeling which made me realize I was exactly where I needed to be. That night, the energy of PSU’s performers and members never faltered. After almost 20 years of living in a house that never welcomed me for who I was, I finally felt home — even in a room entirely composed of strangers.
Upon discovery of these cuts, I thought of how unfair it was to take away something that so many people depended on for support, but perhaps that’s exactly what the plan is. Remove the hope and the uncontrollable rebellion it may lead to along with it. When hope begins to threaten power, it becomes a method of manipulation rather than a beacon for those who long for it.
I am not shocked by the illegitimate attacks on my identity and millions of others’. Over time, the fight to protect diversity and identity-based endeavors has become treacherous, exhausting, and sometimes quite dystopian. Even with the Trump Administration’s significant cuts to education funding, we see it is by design that the very people who are being directly affected by this budget proposal cannot do anything to prevent it. Seeing as teachers are public employees, they cannot strike unless they are willing to face extreme consequences (which many of them cannot afford to).
The inhumane bills being passed by this Administration are a giant leap in the wrong direction — although we have been headed there a long time now. These funding cuts point towards a larger issue that is bigger than money, even if some may believe that cutting funding for certain initiatives can be the key to fixing our economy. This isn’t a matter of evaluating cost-effective programs; it’s a blatant way to silence those think differently than the ones in power.
As a young child, I never thought twice about my own divergent thinking until I attended a classical Christian middle school that valued only one correct solution for every problem. There, I saw what gearing away from what was considered the norm could get you: consequences, judgment, and even worse, insecurity in your own opinions. Acceptance was delivered to those who looked and acted the same as the one awarding it.
Before UF’s funding cuts on DEI programs, Trump signed the executive order titled “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing” in January.
This opened the door for terminating DEI initiatives beyond just the federal government, reversing decades of progress in equity and civil rights. Directly connected to this order, we find Trump’s stance on merit-based hiring in which he believes he is “restoring fairness” to the federal government. This couldn’t be further from the truth. In his methods of prioritizing merit over identity, we have found him to prioritize personal loyalty above qualifications or competence.
The Trump Administration believes DEI gives underrepresented groups an unfair advantage without taking into account the marginalization those groups have experienced. If Trump wants “the best person for the job,” wouldn’t it make sense for him to choose those are actually qualified (despite their identity) and not those who are just privileged as himself? If America was truly to be based on merit, we wouldn’t have a cabinet to run it.
Diversity accelerates performance in many aspects, and to have it stripped of importance only shows the erasure of the hundreds of communities that have provided this country with its foundations in labor, arts, academia, and democracy. This erasure deprives our country of the ability to exercise empathy for those around us, considering we are losing care for DEI initiatives.
An apathetic leader makes for a disloyal team, but an apathetic president makes for a country fueled by a gaping divide between the rich and poor. Neglecting equity may very well lead this country to be characterized by social unrest and increased polarization. As this unfolds, we’ll find ourselves right where we once started, hundreds of years ago.
The fight for equity amongst discrimination continues, but even when we don’t achieve our desired outcomes, our efforts are not lost. In the future, we may find ourselves in a strikingly different society. Yet, the strength found in the moments where we chose to fight instead of watch will push us forward despite an administration that longs to set us back.