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The National Society of Black Engineers is moving its 50th annual convention from Orlando, Fla., to Atlanta.
“When we’re looking at all that’s going on down in Florida right now, we’re thinking about, ‘Is that the backdrop we want for this celebration?’” said Avery Layne, the group’s national chairperson.
“We have members that go all the way from professionals in industry to collegiate students down to pre-college students down to the third-grade level,” Layne said. He said thinking about them was part of the decision.
Janeen Uzzell, the organization’s chief executive officer, said it’s currently looking at losing $1.2 million for making this move.
Conventions are often planned years ahead of time; the engineers’ 50th convention is scheduled for 2024.
The organization announced the change to members Friday in an email that ended with a list of the actions Florida state lawmakers and Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican presidential contender, have taken regarding race, sexual orientation, gender and guns.
Asked for comment, the governor’s press secretary referred Inside Higher Ed to a tweet from DeSantis saying, “As of July 1st, DEI is over in the state of Florida.”
“We are going to treat people as individuals, we’re not going to treat people as members of groups,” DeSantis says in the video accompanying the tweet.
