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However, that message clearly didn’t make it through to the University of South Florida’s administration.
In a hidden-camera investigation, Heather Klisanin, a USF administrator, was caught admitting that the university is using a student-funded workaround to keep its DEI programs alive — without directly violating the state’s restrictions on using taxpayer dollars.
“It is a student-funded area, so it changes some things in regards to what we are able to do because student-funded things are not affected by the changes in regulation and law,” Klisanin explained.
The woman speaking with Klisanin on the undercover tape seemed pleased, saying:
“I was hoping it would be similar here that they weren’t totally getting rid of DEI.”
Klisanin went on to describe how USF is still promoting DEI-related “outreach and education” by funneling the activities through student government — effectively dodging the state’s ban by shifting the source of the funding.
“Yeah, and even our students, we just have to make sure, like any of our programming and things like that, is mostly done through student government because if it’s student-funded, they can’t stop it. But like, our departments can’t spend any money on that,” she admitted.
Here’s the problem — USF’s student government is funded through mandatory fees collected from every student each semester. And the majority of those students — over 74%, according to 2022 data — are attending college on taxpayer-funded scholarships like the Bright Futures program.
So while the university may claim it’s operating within the law, watchdog groups say it’s a clear violation in spirit — and possibly by the letter as well.
“However, this ‘loophole’ employed by USF is still likely in violation of state law, because not all student fees are paid through private sources,” Accuracy in Media stated.
Once the video came to light, USF scrambled to do damage control. The university claimed it had launched a review of the matter and would send Klisanin back to training.
“As soon as USF was provided the hidden camera video of Heather Klisanin, we began a review of the matter, which is ongoing,” a university spokesman told Fox News. “After seeing the video and to ensure USF continues to comply with state and federal laws, USF will require her to complete additional training.”
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But DeSantis’ team wasn’t buying that weak excuse. His communications director Bryan Griffin made it clear this wasn’t going to be brushed under the rug.
“Circumventing state laws & rules prohibiting DEI in public universities is unacceptable. We are looking into the matter and, to the extent public dollars are being used toward DEI, there will be consequences. ‘Additional training’ will not be a sufficient response,” Griffin said.
This scandal is just the latest proof that the radical left is unwilling to let go of their ideological grip on America’s college campuses — even in states like Florida, where leadership has drawn a hard line.
Woke institutions are digging in their heels, but Governor DeSantis has shown time and time again that he’s ready for the fight.
