The University of Florida said it is deactivating its campus College Republicans as a registered student group after being notified that some members engaged in antisemitism.
UF officials said over the weekend that they were informed by the Florida Federation of College Republicans, which had disbanded the Gainesville campus chapter after determining that some members “engaged in a pattern of conduct that violated its rules and values, including a recent antisemitic gesture.”
The university said that when the Florida Federation of College Republicans is ready, UF will assist with reactivating the campus chapter under new student leadership.
AP said the UF action marks the second time in March that a public university in Florida took action against a Republican group accused of being involved in racist or antisemitic behavior.
Earlier this month, Florida International University in Miami launched an investigation into a group chat started by an official with the Miami-Dade chapter of the Republican Party, AP reported.
AP said the group chat included violently racist slurs, antisemitic comments and misogynistic language, and that it involved students as well as several top conservative leaders at Florida International University.
AP also cited a separate episode from last fall, when New York’s Republican State Committee suspended a Young Republican organization after the release of a group chat that included jokes about rape and flippant commentary on gas chambers.