USF St. Petersburg participated in the Stand for Freedom movement along with students across all Florida universities.
Courtesy of Vanessa Wenzl.
By Alisha Durosier
“Hands off my education!” “Black History Matters!” Students, faculty and St. Petersburg residents chanted in unison as they marched throughout the campus of USF St. Petersburg. Wearing black, with signs and pride flags in hand, they marched on Feb. 23 for the statewide Stand for Freedom walkout in protest of Ron DeSantis’s push to ban Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives in public Florida universities.
The walk led by senior Kayla Lee started at the University Student Center, then headed towards Davis Hall, wrapping around Bayboro Harbor before ending at the Student Life Center where students heard from participants and spoke out in protest.
“You will not know peace until you know us, until you see us. Until you stare us down in our brown beautiful eyes, and we see you shiver, we see you break, we will not allow this absurdity. We will not allow this convoluted fascist falseness to ruin the lives of innocent Children. Just because you decided you hate us,” said freshmen Rain Weinstein, who spoke at the walkout.
Since commencing his second term as Florida governor, DeSantis has sought to enact legislation that would limit academic freedom and establish colorblindness. The ideology claims that disregarding their race, ethnicity, gender identity and culture, all individuals should be treated equally in order to end discrimination.
Earlier this year, DeSantis barred AP African American Studies from being taught in Florida high schools, deeming the course to “lack educational value.” Less than a month later he announced his decision to prohibit critical race theory courses and DEI programs from acquiring funding no matter the source, labeling them as “discriminatory initiatives.”
“College is a place where a lot of people come to unlearn the biases and prejudices that they’ve been taught by society their entire life. It’s a really important place for that,” said Peyton McManus, a freshman who was among the organizers of the USF St. Petersburg walkout. “Taking away all diversity equity and inclusion initiatives is just something that would be stopping us from a forthright education which is something that we’re paying for.”
Last year DeSantis also signed the Stop Woke (Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees) Act, prohibiting schools and workplaces from discussing topics that will cause guilt due to an individual’s race, sex, nationality or ethnicity. The Parental Rights and Education Act or “Don’t Say Gay” Act shortly followed. DeSantis signed the bill into law, prohibiting the instruction of sexual orientation or gender identity from kindergarten to 3rd grade.
The conception of the Stand for Freedom walkout came shortly after DeSantis’ address regarding DEI initiatives, when the Florida College Democrats and Dream Defenders called students of Florida colleges to action. Stand for Freedom, a walkout scheduled for Thursday at noon, was devised to demand the restoration of DEI initiatives.
USF St. Petersburg Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA) held a discussion surrounding the governor’s remarks. “We were all just agreeing with each other and we agreed that something needed to be done,” McManus said. When word of the Stand for Freedom movement began to spread, OMA sent out emails to students who attended the discussion and asked if any students would be willing to serve on a committee to organize USF St. Petersburg’s “Stand for Freedom Walkout”. Once the committee was formed, they began making arrangements, mapping out a route and coordinating with University Police.
“I am the mom of a non-binary trans masc person with their spouse who is the same,” said St. Petersburg resident Gretchen Letterman, addressing the crowd of students. “Every day they run into something that causes them to lose hope. And I want to tell you how much hope you all are giving me for them. Thank you.”
Organizers and participants urged that USF St. Petersburg’s stand for freedom didn’t end with the walkout encouraging those who are eligible to vote.
“Vote,” said McManus. “Register to vote. Vote and vote hard.”
How many students joined this protest? Local media never even provides an estimate. That’s because only a tiny percentage of students enrolled at state colleges throughout Florida participated in these protests that were organized by far-left.activists.
Hi Ev,
Around 300 people showed up to the protest.
Hope that helps,
Gavin