Eight nonprofit and advocacy groups are calling for a meeting with state officials concerning their response to pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses.
“We call on you to adhere to your obligations under the U.S. Constitution,” a letter addressed to state university system chancellor Ray Rodrigues said.
The advocacy groups — which include the Florida chapters of PEN America, the American Civil Liberties Union, Equality Florida and the NAACP — sent the letter Wednesday to state university system chancellor Ray Rodrigues, questioning if the state’s response has been constitutional.
They also asked to meet with him. The letter is the second sent by the group and comes a week after Gov. Ron DeSantis and Rodrigues held a press conference on the University of Florida campus, where they praised the state’s law enforcement response and said they hoped to protect Jewish students from antisemitism.
“This is a challenging moment for institutions of higher learning, but now is not the time for the forceful suppression of speech; it is an opportunity for meaningful dialogue,” the letter said. “... Engaging in good faith conflict resolution in response to student concerns is not a sign of weakness. Quite the contrary: it is the very essence of your responsibility as a leader.”
After 37 people were arrested on campuses across the state and tear gas was used to disperse one protest at USF, the groups sent an initial letter on May 3. The letter expressed “grave concern” over “the unnecessary use of force” and “encroachments on students’ and faculty’s First Amendment rights.”
The letter acknowledged colleges are allowed to restrict protests by time, place and manner, but warned them not to “single out specific viewpoints for disproportionate punishment designed to chill constitutionally protected speech.”
It also called the use of tear gas “wholly inappropriate and dangerous.”
In a response six days later, Rodrigues said he rejected the premise of the letter. He pointed to the state’s initiatives from 2018 onward to promote free expression and civil discourse on campuses.
“Notwithstanding Florida’s appreciation for free expression, Florida is a law-and-order state,” he wrote. “Florida’s institutions will not turn a blind eye on unlawful activities or behavior that violates university policy.”
Rodrigues said breaking the law or university regulations did not constitute a peaceful protest, and said state institutions used de-escalation strategies to maintain safe conditions for students and the community at large.
The group of organizations — which also includes the American Association of University Professors, Florida Youth Action Fund, National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education and PRISM Florida — wrote back in disagreement.
The letter said state officials have “shown a pattern of antipathy toward pro-Palestinian messages suggesting that the response to the protests has been motivated at least in part by the demonstrators’ viewpoints.”
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Explore all your optionsThey pointed to a recent press conference where Gov. Ron DeSantis linked protesters to Hamas and claimed they were calling for a “second Holocaust.” The letter also questioned Rodrigues’ characterization of the protests as not peaceful.
“The conflation of civil disobedience with violence is patently incorrect and reinforces our concerns of bias,” the letter said. “...If protesters decide to engage in civil disobedience, such as by refusing to disperse from a protest site, then responses must be proportional and employed in a manner that does not chill constitutionally protected speech.”
The group invited Rodrigues to meet with them and respond to concerns of antisemitism and Islamophobia on campuses with due process and dialogue.
“It is crucial to ensure that campuses remain open to the broadest range of views possible to support the academic freedom and open inquiry that are fundamental to all great institutions of higher learning,” the letter said.
Representatives for the Board of Governors did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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