University of Florida discriminated against College Republicans chapter, attorney claims
The University of Florida has been accused of discriminating against a Republican club that it recently deactivated over allegations of antisemitic behavior.
In a lawsuit against University of Florida President Donald Landry, University of Florida College Republicans (UFCR) claimed it was improperly punished over a member's alleged antisemitic expression, arguing that it was protected speech.
"There's nothing unlawful about what they said, and they're clearly being discriminated against based on their viewpoint," Anthony Sabatini, the attorney representing UFCR, told Fox News Digital on Tuesday.
When asked about the incidents that led up to the lawsuit, Sabatini cited allegations that a member of UFCR made a Nazi salute and the group's hosting an event with Republican James Fishback, who has been a vocal critic of Israel. UFCR also mentioned the event with Fishback in a statement issued on X.
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"48 hours after we hosted James Fishback at the largest Candidate event at UF in nearly 10 years, [UF] terminated our organization. They cited the FFCR, an organization that we are not a part of that has no authority over our chapter. We are proud members of a different organization, [College Republicans of America]," UFCR said in a statement posted on X. "We look forward to the University reinstating our club and correcting this statement. We have retained counsel and have received information that this is not the first time that FFCR has lied to silence Christian conservative groups on campus."
The lawsuit claims that the university selectively punished UFCR because of some members' beliefs.
"The University of Florida punitively deactivated and shut down the UFCR, in response to alleged viewpoints expressed by a member of UFCR, and in an effort to silence the club and chill its future speech," the lawsuit states. "No university policy, rule, or law provides UF a lawful basis for the deactivation."
The university said in a statement on the chapter's deactivation that it was notified by the Florida Federation of College Republicans (FFCR) that it had disbanded the chapter.
"The University of Florida was recently informed by the Florida Federation of College Republicans (FFCR) that it has disbanded the local chapter of College Republicans (the Local CR). This request is based on the FFCR’s findings that some Local CR members engaged in a pattern of conduct that violated its rules and values, including a recent antisemitic gesture. The FFCR also requested that the university deactivate the Local CR as a registered student organization while it looks to reorganize and pursue reinstatement under new student leadership," the university said in a statement.
However, the lawsuit contests that FFCR has "no authority over or affiliation with UFCR." The group said in its own statement that it was affiliated with College Republicans of America (CRA).
University of Florida Director of Public Affairs Cynthia Roldán told Fox News Digital that the university does not comment on pending litigation.
Following the university's announcement, William Donahue, the chairman of College Republicans of America, said CRA was "furious" that FFCR "lied" to the university to terminate the group, calling it "completely unacceptable." In his post on X, Donahue called out the National Federation of College Republicans (NFCR), garnering a response from the group.
NFCR pushed back on Donahue's claim that it lied, and said that the charter was revoked by FFCR in February. The organization claimed that this was not a matter of suppressing speech, adding that "The College Republicans network supports free speech, but it also has the right to decide which groups it affiliates with. The behavior that was documented was not representative of Republican principles, and the federation acted accordingly."
In its response, NFCR included an image of two young people giving Nazi salutes and screenshots of chats appearing to be from University of Florida students in which one says, "I don't wanna bring Hitler back because he didn't do enough."
The university's move received mixed reactions, with several Republicans slamming the decision as a violation of the First Amendment.
Fishback said in a post on X that it was "disgraceful for Florida's taxpayer-funded universities to punish student groups for their protected speech."
"In 2023, it was Students for Justice in Palestine. Today, it's College Republicans. As Governor, I will defend the First Amendment rights of all citizens," Fishback added.
CRA's new Political Director Kai Schwemmer, who has been the subject of controversy, decried the University of Florida's decision as "cancel culture." Schwemmer said on X that it was "insane" that the university was "destroying" the group for hosting a gubernatorial candidate.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., issued a statement praising the university for "working with the FFCR to stand with Jewish students and resolve this quickly."
"Antisemitism has no place in the Republican Party, higher education or our country," Scott wrote on X.
FFCR did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.