[June 11, 2025] Today, Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF) sent letters to the University of West Florida (UWF), Florida International University (FIU), and the University of North Florida (UNF), demanding that they make revisions to their Title IX policies in order to protect students’ First Amendment rights to free speech.

During national “Title IX Month” declared by the US Department of Education (DOE), the letters – which also went to Governor Ron DeSantis and Attorney General James Uthemeir – demand the three universities make changes to their woke sexual harassment policies, which include penalties for students who may use the wrong pronoun for a fellow student choosing to not “identify” according to their sex.

SLF President Kim Hermann sent the letters to UWF, FIU and UNF after a close scrub of their “Title IX policies” revealed concerning rules for students, even though the schools are located in Florida where Gov. DeSantis has warned all public universities that he is against woke mandates of all kinds. SLF is demanding that the three public universities immediately change their policies that threaten the First Amendment rights of students. They argue the universities’ policies are overly vague and create an environment where students will be afraid to voice their beliefs or questions in regards to “gender identity” and biological sex. This kind of limit on free speech is the very opposite of a public university’s mission to urge critical thinking and be a “marketplace of ideas.”

SLF argues in their letter to UWF, for example, that the school’s “Harassment Policy raises serious First Amendment concerns and will leave students who believe in the biological reality that only two sexes exist wondering when and how they will be punished for speaking the truth. Will they be punished for speaking up when a man who ‘identifies’ as a woman is permitted to live in a women’s dorm room? Or for using biologically correct pronouns? Or for simply stating that men should not compete in women’s sports?”

 SLF demanded that each university make the necessary revisions, so that “students can freely exercise their First Amendment rights to the fullest extent,” allowing students to remain focused on their schooling and grades, not on what beliefs they are allowed to express verbally.

Download press release.