Urian Rios, an American History professor, said the new general education course requirements in state universities are censorship.

Classes “based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States” are no longer allowed on general education curriculums in compliance with Florida statute 1007.25.

“Issues like sexism, homophobia, gender and race discrimination are part of our history, and there is no way we can avoid them,” Rios said. “This content is ingrained in the fiber of my course.”

At the end of August, the USF Board of Trustees’ (BOT) Governance committee unanimously approved these changes to USF’s general education courses effective fall 2025. 

BOG Reg. 8.005 says each institution has to submit its approved list of general education courses to the Articulation Coordinating Committee no later than Sept. 1 of each year.

The committee voted on behalf of the full board to adhere to this deadline, so the changes won’t be voted on at Tuesday’s BOT meeting. 

Rios said the requirements were based on state regulation, so the committee members had no choice but to abide — but that doesn’t mean it makes the situation any less “sad.”

The changes in Florida statute 1007.25 were caused by Senate Bill 266, which passed in 2023. The BOT had to do an annual review of general education courses on Aug. 27 to meet those changes.

Earlier this year, the Florida Board of Governors (BOG) removed Principles of Sociology as a general education core requirement and replaced it with American History prior to 1877 — a change also caused by Senate Bill 266.

Related: USF replaced sociology as a gen ed requirement. What does that mean for students?

Gerard Solis, from the Office of General Counsel, said at the Aug. 27 meeting that the final list of USF’s general education courses would go through consultations from the BOG, his own office and available faculty. After approval, the curriculum will be presented at Tuesday’s BOT meeting.

Some faculty members received an email on June 26 asking them to review their course content by July 29. The Oracle obtained the email through a public records request.

The professors who received this notice had been identified as “leaders overseeing courses” from five state-approved disciplines — communication, humanities, mathematics, natural sciences and social sciences, according to the email.

The leaders were given three options:

• Confirm their courses align with FL Statute 1007.25 and stay in USF’s Enhanced General Education curriculum.
• Opt to remove their courses from USF’s Enhanced General Education curriculum effective fall 2025.
• Those who didn’t answer would be moved outside General Education effective fall 2025.

Ruthann Atchley, the associate chair of the Psychology department, said she received this email. She said her department’s courses did not conflict with the regulation, so she wrote back to confirm the courses would align with the statute.

“We don’t talk about opinions or beliefs, and I trust all of my colleagues only to teach around scientifically, empirically-supported ideas,” Atchley said. “We are not philosophers, and we’re not historians — we’re scientists.”

Historians, however, will have a more challenging time adjusting to this regulation, Rios said.

American history classes are taught chronologically, looking at every period in history and focusing on the theme of the struggle for freedom, according to Rios.

Rios said he is unsure how to practically approach the new regulation in a classroom setting. However, he said he might remove direct comparisons between historical periods and modern times because that is when the class becomes more controversial.

“I don’t know if that’s going to be sufficient, but I know it will be very difficult to teach this class,” Rios said.

Related: Some faculty, students consider leaving state due to DEI legislation

Rios grew up in Brazil under a dictatorship in which the government inspected everything from music to theater plays. He said this has made it easier for him to identify censorship.

“This is censorship,” Rios said. “It is sad to see that the environment in which we teach history is not friendly anymore.”

Referring to the wording of the statute, Atchley explained that to say racism or sexism are “inherent” in American institutions is to say they are “effectively baked” into political and social systems.

Even though talking about sexism, racism and ageism is part of her classes, Atchley said she is careful in teaching those topics in a way that is appropriate for psychology — with science.

“While we may discuss some of today’s hot-button topics, we only teach a well-supported scientific understanding of how human minds and brains work,” Atchley said. “There are dozens of years of research that support this idea — it is not opinion and not indoctrination.”