{"id":149117,"date":"2026-02-09T18:31:57","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T18:31:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/149117\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T18:31:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T18:31:57","slug":"hbcu-banned-from-using-word-black-to-promote-campus-events-in-dei-crackdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/149117\/","title":{"rendered":"HBCU banned from using word &#8216;Black&#8217; to promote campus events in DEI crackdown"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The assault and elimination of diversity initiatives through state and federal action has resulted in HBCU students no longer feeling empowered to use the word Black.<\/p>\n<p>A<a href=\"https:\/\/hbcusports.com\/?s=FAMU\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Florida A&amp;M University<\/a> law student told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clickorlando.com\/news\/local\/2026\/02\/06\/black-banned-from-flyers-for-famu-college-of-law-black-history-month-event-student-says\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Orlando TV station News 6<\/a> that state restrictions on DEI programs are hampering student organizations\u2019 ability to celebrate Black History Month.<\/p>\n<p>Aaliyah Steward, a third-year student at FAMU\u2019s College of Law, said she faced pushback while promoting events for the Black Law Students Association.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor our flyers, certain words were flagged,\u201d Steward said. \u201cIt was \u2018Black,\u2019 \u2018affirmative action,\u2019 and \u2018women\u2019 as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Steward told the TV station she was told those terms could not be used in promotional materials.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe couldn\u2019t use the word \u2018Black\u2019 in Black History Month,\u201d she said. \u201cWe would have to abbreviate it. I was very angry and baffled because this is a Historically Black College and University, and for them to say we can\u2019t use the word \u2018Black\u2019 was kind of insane.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/hbcusports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/FAMU.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-57429 size-jnews-750x375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/FAMU-750x375.jpg\" alt=\"FAMU\" width=\"750\" height=\"375\" title=\"HBCU banned from using word 'Black' to promote campus events in DEI crackdown 2\"  \/><\/a>Photo: Florida A&amp;M University<\/p>\n<p>Florida\u2019s 12 public universities have been barred from using state or federal funds for DEI programs following legislation signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and reinforced by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flbog.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Regulation-9.016.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">State Board of Governors through Regulation 9.016.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>FAMU said in a statement to the TV station that the school remains compliant with state law on the matter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFlorida A&amp;M University has consistently been in full compliance with Senate Bill 266 and Board of Governors\u2019 Regulation 9.016,\u201d the university said in a statement. \u201cWe support and have implemented the policy direction established by the Governor, the Legislature, and the Board of Governors as it relates to DEI, and consistent with related federal court rulings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Steward said she is concerned about cultural censorship.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just don\u2019t want us to be censored this way,\u201d she said. \u201cNot being able to use the word \u2018Black\u2019 is very frustrating.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The assault and elimination of diversity initiatives through state and federal action has resulted in HBCU students no&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":149118,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[232,234,233],"class_list":{"0":"post-149117","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tallahassee","8":"tag-tallahassee","9":"tag-tallahassee-headlines","10":"tag-tallahassee-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}