Supporting Under Restriction: Cultural Advisors’ Experiences Amid Anti-DEI Legislation at Florida Institutions

The overt focus on restructuring and rolling back of DEI-based programming and initiatives at the college and university levels has become a topic of conversation across the micro, meso, and macro levels of higher education institutions and society. Even more so, cultural advisors in Florida who had witnessed their institutions make public commitments to DEI policies in 2020, only to see them enter a downward spiral, experienced those institutions take back those promises due to Florida’s Senate Bill 266. Because of anti-DEI legislation, cultural advisors are forced to restructure and/or eliminate their diversity efforts across multiple sectors. This study, using a multimodal qualitative approach, highlights the experiences of eight cultural advisors at Florida institutions whose livelihoods were affected by policy-driven organizational changes. Our findings at each level present (1) Micro Level: Dismantling the Buzzwords, (2) Meso Level: Lack of Moral Institutional Accountability, and (3) Macro Level: Doing the Work without Breaking the Law, which proved to have consequences for cultural advisors and the students they serve. Drawing on Young’s Responsibility for Justice Framework, we emphasize the dangers of anti-DEI legislation and recommend approaches grounded in moral justice to sustain a genuine organizational-level commitment to DEI.