DeSantis moves to ease transfer process for Jewish students amid Ivy League antisemitism scandal

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday announced that he had ordered institutions of higher education in the state to ease the process of transferring for Jewish students, pointing to the ongoing controversy surrounding Ivy League schools and their handling of antisemitic incidents on their campuses.

"Today, I am directing Florida’s Colleges and Universities to make it easier for Jewish students to transfer to a Florida higher education institution," DeSantis said. "While leaders of 'elite' universities enable antisemitism, we will protect Jewish students and welcome them to Florida."

In the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that prompted the ongoing hostilities in Gaza, student groups staged demonstrations and issued statements in support of Palestine, some of which raised concerns of rising antisemitic sentiment on college campuses. The situation escalated after disastrous congressional testimony from Presidents Claudine Gay of Harvard, Sally Kornbluth of MIT, and Liz Magill of UPenn in which they declined to decisively condemn calls for genocide against Jews.

Magill later resigned amid public backlash, while Gay did so only after a protracted scandal over alleged plagiarism in her scholarly work. Kornbluth remains in her post.

DeSantis's announcement prompted considerable rebuke online, with many suggesting it signaled hypocrisy on the issues of affirmative action and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

BlazeTV host Lauren Chen, for instance, posted "[l]ooks like you support affirmative action after all" and included screenshots of his prior comments condemning DEI initiatives.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.