University of Florida moves to disband College Republicans after antisemitism reports
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida said it was deactivating the campus College Republicans as a registered student group after receiving reports that some members were engaging in acts of anti-Semitism.
The deactivation effort on the University of Florida campus marks the second time this month that a public university in Florida has taken action against a Republican group accused of being involved in racist or anti-Semitic behavior.
Earlier this month, Florida International University in Miami launched an investigation into a group chat started by an official in the Miami-Dade chapter of the Republican Party that included violently racist slurs, anti-Semitic comments and misogynistic language. The conversation involved students and several senior conservative leaders at Florida International University.
University of Florida officials said over the weekend that they had been informed by the Florida Federation of College Republicans that the federation had disbanded the Gainesville campus chapter after determining that some members had “engaged in a pattern of conduct that violated its rules and values, including a recent anti-Semitic gesture.”
When the Florida Federation of College Republicans is ready, the university will help reactivate the campus chapter under new student leadership, UF officials said in a statement.
Last fall, the New York Republican State Committee suspended a Young Republicans organization following the publication of a group chat that included jokes about rape and offhand comments about the gas chambers.
