Florida
At Florida's only public HBCU, students are wary of political influence on race education
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A core mission of Florida A&M University from its founding over a century ago has been to educate African Americans. It was written into the law that established the school along with another college, in Gainesville, reserved for white students.
At Florida’s only public historically Black university, some students now fear political constraints might get in the way of teaching parts of their history.
A law signed last spring by Gov. Ron DeSantis, a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, blocks public colleges from using taxpayer money on diversity programs. It also forbids instruction of theories that “systemic racism, sexism, oppression, and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States and were created to maintain social, political, and economic inequities.”
The new law, part of broader GOP efforts to rein in campus efforts on equity and inclusion, has spurred protests on campus. Some students say they are watching for signs the new guidance will affect teaching of topics related to race and American history.
Chad Preston, a senior political science major, said he worries some viewpoints will be silenced.
“We deserve the same level of education that all these other states are getting. We deserve the same information,” he said.
DeSantis describes the law as an effort to rid university classrooms of what he calls left-leaning “woke” indoctrination. His education policies — including limits on what schools can teach about racism and which bathrooms students use — have faced criticism from civil rights leaders but fueled his political rise by harnessing culture war passions.
“In reality, what this concept of DEI has been is to attempt to impose orthodoxy on the university,” DeSantis said at a ceremony in May when he signed the bill into law. “This has basically been used as a veneer to impose an ideological agenda, and that is wrong.”
The university, founded in 1887, hosts about 10,000 students at its campus a few blocks from the state capitol.
The new law has made Florida a difficult learning environment for students and faculty of color, said Marybeth Gasman, a Rutgers University historian whose research focuses on historically Black colleges and universities and systemic racism in higher education.
“I’ve talked to some FAMU faculty who have basically told me that they’re keeping their head down because they’re afraid they’re going to lose their jobs,” Gasman said. “If I were in Florida, I would probably be concerned as well.”
FAMU has not seen upheaval anywhere near the scale of New College of Florida, a progressive campus where DeSantis and his allies overhauled the Board of Trustees and installed a majority of conservative figures. But many on the FAMU campus are wary.
Asked about the impact of the new law, a university spokesperson referred to a comment Florida A&M President Larry Robinson made in June.
“There are more than 30 pieces of legislation passed this legislative session that have some impact on educational institutions in Florida, including FAMU, and we take them all seriously,” Robinson said. “But our commitment to ‘Excellence With Caring’ remains strong, and remains unchanged.”
In early December, the board overseeing Florida’s state university system released proposed regulations outlining programs that would be prohibited from receiving state or federal money under the new law. Programs on the outs would include any that promote “differential or preferential treatment of individuals, or classifies such individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, gender identity, or sexual orientation.”
The FAMU Democrats have been taking steps to ensure the messages of speakers they invite to campus are moderate, said Jovan Mickens, a senior and president of the student political group.
“With my organization, there are certain things I can’t do like bring certain people on campus for a panel discussion. We’re tip-toeing around this university,” he said.
Historically Black colleges and universities often receive less funding than predominantly white public colleges. A group of students at FAMU have filed a lawsuit against the state, saying it has underfunded their school by nearly $1.3 billion.
But for leaders of public colleges, pushing back on policies they disagree with could put them at odds with the same officials deciding on their budgets, said Abul Pitre, chair of the Department of Africana Studies at San Francisco State University.
“It requires a certain kind of balance that does not allow them to have too much of an Afrocentric social justice perspective, because they have to go to the same politicians for money who are advocating to eliminate it,” he said.
Raghan Pickett, a senior at FAMU, traces her lineage back to Rosewood, Florida, where hundreds of Black people were killed or driven out in 1923 by a mob of white men who then destroyed their neighborhoods. She fears the new law could stop instructors from teaching about such atrocities.
“Back then, it was afraid of being lynched,” Pickett said. “Today, Black people are still struggling. We’re still fighting to learn basic history.”
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The Associated Press education team receives support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Former Rep. David Rivera, R-Fla., was indicted Tuesday on charges that he violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act and laundered funds in order to “conceal and promote his criminal conduct,” the Justice Department said on Wednesday.
In the indictment, Rivera is accused of working “as an agent” of Raul Gorrín Belisario, a Venezuelan national who the Treasury Department said played a role in a “corruption scheme” to bribe the national treasurer of Venezuela.
Rivera “sought to lobby senior U.S. government officials” on Gorrín’s behalf, attempting to have Gorrín removed from a list he was placed on because of the alleged bribery, according to the indictment returned by the grand jury.
Under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), anyone who has agreed to work in a certain capacity for a foreign government’s interest, either through the government itself or an intermediary, must register with the U.S. government.
The indictment also alleges that Rivera created shell companies “to conceal and promote his crimes.” The alleged scheme took place in 2019 and 2020, according to the indictment.
The FBI Miami Field Office, which the DOJ said is investigating the case, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday night. An attorney for Rivera also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rivera was previously arrested and indicted in 2022. Prosecutors alleged in that case that Rivera tried to “act and cause others to act in the United States as an agent of a foreign principal,” referring to the Venezuelan government, without registering with the U.S. government.
The Miami Herald reported on Wednesday that Rivera in a statement referred to the various FARA allegations as “false,” arguing that Tuesday’s indictment was “just another politicized indictment against a Republican, right before the Trump administration brings back sanity and fairness to this weaponization of the justice system.”
Rivera served in Congress from 2011 to 2013.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla — The person warning you about Florida’s next hurricane might not be a person at all. Florida’s Emergency Management team rolled out new AI technology Wednesday that, they say, will save lives during future emergencies.
Think of your average weather report. Little music in the background, a baritone meteorologist predicting partly cloudy conditions. Pretty standard, don’t you think?
Think again. AI now has the power to give you an almost identical broadcast to what you’d hear on your car radio, but it’s not a real person, just real information. And a real opportunity, say state officials, to inform people during emergencies.
BEACON (Broadcast Emergency Alerts and Communications Operations Network) is a first-of-its-kind program created as a joint venture between Florida Emergency Management, the University of Florida, and an AI company called Futuri. BEACON gathers emergency alerts and messages from official federal/state/local sources, prioritizes them, and turns them into a 24/7 AI-powered radio station.
Listeners can stream it on the BEACON app or over the air with a regular old radio. Florida’s Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said during Wednesday’s rollout speed was among the biggest benefits.
“That goes straight to the airwaves,” he said. “And we’re really excited about that technology and that capability to get instant messaging out on the airwaves, and I guarantee you sometime over the next, you know, decades, that we will save lives.”
The program is starting small. Just one BEACON, for now, operating out of the public radio station WUFT in Gainesville. In the future, BEACONs could be across the state, broadcasting in multiple languages and at all hours.
The concept is simple. When an emergency happens, officials push out alerts, and in seconds, BEACON turns them into broadcasts that will run before, during, and as recovery begins.
AI systems have come under scrutiny for reliability, recently. The Associated Press reported this in October. An AI hospital transcription tool was found to be making stuff up — including “racial commentary, violent rhetoric and even imagined medical treatments.”
“It really depends on the quality of data that is being fed into the system,” said Futuri CEO Daniel Anstandig.
He dismissed accuracy concerns. BEACON, Anstandig said, will get its info from trusted sources, meaning its broadcasts will be just as trustworthy.
“We know that the data is highly controlled,” said Anstandig. “It’s high integrity, and so we have measures in place to be sure that we’re only ever processing or using information that originates from statewide agencies or from sanctioned government agencies, and that makes a difference.”
BEACON’s next steps aren’t certain. It’ll be up to the legislature to fund it and expand the program across Florida. That means the AI’s operators “will be back” next year to ask lawmakers for more cash when the session begins in March.
Something to be mindful of. Florida is entering a new year where one of the main goals of Florida’s new House SpeakerDanny Perez is trimming the budget. What that means for programs like this remains uncertain– though emergency management often ranks high on the state’s priority list.
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Both of Florida State’s starting defensive ends from the 2024 season have decided to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal.
On Wednesday, redshirt junior defensive end Patrick Payton appeared in the portal, marking the conclusion of his time with the Seminoles. Payton just wrapped up his fourth season in Tallahassee in what was a disappointing campaign as he finished with fewer tackles, tackles for loss, and sacks compared to his performance in 2023.
Payton started in all 12 games for the Seminoles, totaling 35 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, and four sacks. He had a season-high five tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, and three sacks in the win against Cal and added five tackles and two tackles for loss in the win against Charleston Southern.
The Florida native signed with Florida State as a four-star prospect in the 2021 class. He was the ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2022 before a breakout campaign as a redshirt sophomore. In 2023, Payton started opposite Jared Verse, and recorded 44 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, seven sacks, two forced fumbles, and ten pass deflections. He earned honorable mention All-ACC honors and was presented with FSU’s Monk Bonasorte Award.
READ MORE: FSU Defensive Tackle Withdraws From 2025 NFL Draft, Returning To Tallahassee
The 6-foot-5, 250-pound defensive end is expected to have one season of eligibility remaining at his next stop. He flirted with entering the portal last year before returning to FSU. That doesn’t appear to be the case this time.
Payton is the 17th scholarship player from Florida State’s roster to enter the portal since the conclusion of a 2-10 season. Redshirt senior wide receiver Deuce Spann, redshirt junior tight end Jackson West, redshirt junior defensive end Byron Turner Jr, redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Tomiwa Durojaiye, senior defensive back Omarion Cooper, sophomore wide receiver Destyn Hill, redshirt freshman defensive end Lamont Green Jr., redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Julian Armella, junior tight end Brian Courtney, redshirt senior wide receiver Darion Williamson, redshirt sophomore tight end Jerrale Powers, redshirt freshman linebacker DeMarco Ward, true freshman quarterback Luke Kromenhoek, junior defensive end Marvin Jones Jr., redshirt junior defensive tackle Grady Kelly, and redshirt sophomore linebacker Shawn Murphy have declared their intentions to move on.
The Seminoles have three scholarship defensive ends eligible to return in 2025; redshirt senior Jaden Jones, redshirt junior Aaron Hester, and redshirt freshman DD Holmes.
FSU signed four-star LaJesse Harrold, four-star Tylon Lee, three-star Darryll Desir, and three-star Mandrell Desir during the Early Signing Period.
Florida State also recently landed former Nebraska defensive end James Williams in the transfer portal.
READ MORE: Florida State Legacy Wide Receiver Enters NCAA Transfer Portal
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