GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The University of Florida announced it is deactivating the campus College Republicans as a registered student group after being informed that some members engaged in antisemitic behavior.
This deactivation marks the second instance this month where a public university in Florida has taken action against a Republican group accused of racist or antisemitic conduct.
Earlier this month, Florida International University in Miami launched an investigation into a group chat initiated by an official from the Miami-Dade chapter of the Republican Party. The chat contained violently racist slurs, antisemitic remarks, and misogynistic language, involving students and several prominent conservative leaders at Florida International University.
University of Florida officials said over the weekend that the Florida Federation of College Republicans had disbanded the Gainesville campus chapter after determining some members had "engaged in a pattern of conduct that violated its rules and values, including a recent antisemitic gesture."
UF officials added that when the Florida Federation of College Republicans is ready, the university will assist in reactivating the campus chapter under new student leadership.
Last fall, New York’s Republican State Committee suspended a Young Republican organization after a group chat was released that included jokes about rape and insensitive comments about gas chambers.
