{"id":150057,"date":"2026-02-10T11:34:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T11:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/150057\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T11:34:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T11:34:12","slug":"florida-am-university-student-says-black-is-flagged-in-black-history-month-promotions-amid-dei-funding-ban-afrotech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/150057\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida A&M University Student Says ‘Black’ Is Flagged In Black History Month Promotions Amid DEI Funding Ban – AfroTech"},"content":{"rendered":"

February is Black History Month<\/a>, but students at Florida A&M University (FAMU) say promoting events has been challenging because the university\u2019s approval process flags certain words.<\/p>\n

Aaliyah Steward, a student finishing up her final year at FAMU\u2019s College of Law, says she has faced obstacles while trying to publicize the month\u2019s events for the Black Law Students Association, WKMG News 6\u00a0reports<\/a>. Steward claims that a review of event flyers flagged terms such as \u201cblack,\u201d \u201caffirmative action,\u201d and \u201cwomen,\u201d preventing their broadcast or publication.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe couldn\u2019t use the word \u2018black\u2019 in Black History Month. We would have to abbreviate it,\u201d Steward said, per News 6. \u201cI was very angry and baffled because this is a Historically Black College and University (HBCU<\/a>), and for them to say we can\u2019t use the word \u2018black\u2019 was kind of insane.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why FAMU Is Restricting The Word \u2018Black\u2019<\/p>\n

According to the outlet, Florida\u2019s State Board of Governors, which oversees the state\u2019s 12 public universities \u2014 including FAMU, the only public HBCU in the state \u2014 voted in 2024 to prohibit the use of state or federal funds for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs. The other three HBCUs in Florida<\/a> are private, per<\/a> HBCU Connect.<\/p>\n

The move aligns with a law, Senate Bill 266, signed by Governor Ron DeSantis, News 6 noted.<\/p>\n

According to<\/a> a Jan. 17, 2024, news release from the Florida Department of Education, the policy prohibits Florida College System institutions from using state or federal funds to run programs that classify individuals by race or sex to provide differential or preferential treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cHigher education must return to its essential foundations of academic integrity and the pursuit of knowledge instead of being corrupted by destructive ideologies,\u201d Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. said at the time. \u201cThese actions today ensure that we will not spend taxpayers\u2019 money supporting DEI and radical indoctrination that promotes division in our society.\u201d<\/p>\n

News 6 reached out to FAMU officials regarding Steward\u2019s concerns. While the university did not deny the claims, officials said in a statement that they were simply complying with state law.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe support and have implemented the policy direction established by the Governor, the Legislature, and the Board of Governors as it relates to DEI<\/a>, and consistent with related federal court rulings,\u201d they said, per the outlet.<\/p>\n

Officials added in their statement to News 6 that FAMU is \u201ccommitted to fostering a campus community that encourages the free exchange of ideas while ensuring an environment of mutual respect, safety, and awareness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steward, who is waiting to hear back from university officials after resubmitting a Black History Month flyer without abbreviations, says the limitations feel like a form of censorship.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just don\u2019t want us to be censored this way. Not being able to use the word \u2018black<\/a>\u2018 is very frustrating,\u201d she said, News 6 reports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"February is Black History Month, but students at Florida A&M University (FAMU) say promoting events has been challenging…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":150058,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[72505,5708,734,232,234,233,4443,72506],"class_list":{"0":"post-150057","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tallahassee","8":"tag-afrotech","9":"tag-black-community","10":"tag-investing","11":"tag-tallahassee","12":"tag-tallahassee-headlines","13":"tag-tallahassee-news","14":"tag-tech","15":"tag-wealth-building"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150057","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=150057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}