DeSantis Pushes For School Safety, Jewish Protections, and UF Research Projects

GAINESVILLE, FL—Governor Ron DeSantis announced Wednesday that he plans to reactive an executive order waiving certain university application requirements for Jewish transfer students, will approve almost $600 million toward school safety initiatives, and will approve over $300 million in new construction and research projects at the University of Florida.

Executive Order: In January 2024, just three months after the terrorist organization Hamas ambushed and massacred 1,200 Israelis and took 252 more hostage, antisemitic acts spiked by over 300 percent. Because of this, DeSantis ordered Florida universities to waive credit hour requirements for out-of-state students fearing antisemitism. On Wednesday morning, he announced the order's reinvigoration, stating, "Those students are going to be able to hotline into our universities."

Jewish Day Schools and HBCUs: DeSantis also revealed that he would be signing off on a $20 million budget item split between Jewish Day Schools and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to increase safety and security measures. $10 million will go to Jewish Day Schools (in January, he allocated $25 million to 134 separate schools to protect these institutions, bringing the total amount toward Jewish Day Schools to a whopping $53 million since DeSantis took office in 2019) and $2.5 million will go to Florida A&M, Bethune-Cookman University, Edward Waters University, and Florida Memorial University.

K-12 Student Safety: A nearly $570 million budget item was also given the go-ahead on Wednesday. This funding will go to K-12 student safety, involving practices like school hardening, K-9 police dog presence, mental health awareness and training for staff, and school guardian programs. Since DeSantis took office, over $1.4 billion has been invested in public school student safety initiatives. This builds off of a school safety measure he signed Monday, which is designed to address issues that led up to the Parkland school shooting in 2018.

University of Florida: DeSantis said he would approve $75 million for a new graduate UF campus in Jacksonville. This would join $75 million already approved by him in 2023, $50 million in local support, and $60 million from private donors. He will also sign off on $80 million for the continued construction of the Florida Semiconductor Institute—a research and development hub that DeSantis has already pledged over $200 million toward.