The Florida Board of Governors removed sociology as a general education course offering in a surprise vote at a meeting in Pensacola on Thursday.
Introduction to Sociology, designated as SYG 1000 or SYG 2000 across the 12 state public universities, will be removed from all general education classifications. Instead, the course will become an elective. The change will go into effect for the 2026-27 academic year.
The move follows a yearslong battle between the board, students, advocates and faculty over the subject.
Governors eliminated sociology as a required part of general education in 2024. After the change, students could still decide to use Intro to Sociology to satisfy general education. Now, they will no longer have that option.
Intro to Sociology at UF enrolled about 1,450 students during the 2025-26 academic year, according to public records obtained by The Alligator. The subject examines social life, including the impact of social change on individuals and the causes and effects of inequalities, according to the description of the major on its website.
Earlier this year, the Florida university system approved an altered, state-approved version of the introductory sociology textbook. The book contained 267 pages, compared to the previous version’s 665, and omitted sections on race, gender and sexuality.
Sociology’s removal was not on the agenda for the board’s Thursday meeting. Instead, Chancellor Ray Rodrigues jumped in after a staff update on general education courses. He gave a history of the subject’s changing role in public universities following its removal from the docket of required courses.
Reworking sociology content to make it compliant with state standards, he said, left university faculty unhappy and critical of what they viewed as a breach of academic freedom.
As a former liberal arts student, Rodrigues said, he recalls studying concepts like racism and the gender pay gap through sociology courses in school. But he learned about them “without enduring indoctrination,” he said.
“Sociology as a discipline is now social and political advocacy dressed in the regalia of the academy,” he said.
Four universities — the University of North Florida, Florida Gulf Coast University Florida A&M University and the University of South Florida — had already asked to remove Intro to Sociology from general education. Rodrigues moved to remove the course from all universities.
The motion passed with a second from one of the board’s most recent additions, Gainesville resident Keith Perry.
Kimberly Dunn, the only voting faculty member of the board, voted against the motion and spoke out against it, saying it may be premature and broader than necessary.
“Sociology contributes directly to the competencies we consistently emphasize,” she said. “These are skills our graduates need across every sector.”
Contact Zoey Thomas at zthomas@alligator.org. Follow her on X @ZoeyThomas39.
Zoey Thomas is a UF media production senior and the Spring 2026 editor-in-chief of The Alligator. She has previously been data editor and engagement managing editor, as well as a reporter for three semesters. She was also a intern at the Orlando Sentinel. In her sparse free time, Zoey enjoys reading a good book, going for a run or waking up her roommates with the sound of her espresso machine.
