Inside the office that until last year housed the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) program on the Florida Atlantic University campus, the paid staff are gone and so are some of the signs and furniture.

Despite this, the students remain.

“It’s kind of like a general gathering space,” senior Mary Rasura said. “You can defund the center and remove the center, like take the letters off the wall, [but] we’re still going to be here.”

In May 2023, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that banned all DEI programs on state college campuses.

“DEI is better viewed as standing for discrimination, exclusion and indoctrination, and that has no place in our public institutions,” DeSantis said at the bill signing event last year.

Rasura said by the end of that year the DEI office at FAU was emptied, and it was then she thought of giving the room a new purpose.

“It’s kind of disheartening, but as a journalism major I thought this was the most productive thing to do,” Rasura said.

She and other students founded “OutFAU,” a student-run, privately funded LGBTQ+ newspaper. The former DEI office became their meeting place.

“We’re going to be writing and using our freedom of speech to organize and write about what’s going on,” Rasura said.

The students on the newspaper staff admit feeling angry and disappointed at losing the DEI office, but they said they’ve now managed to find a productive solution for a place that means a lot to them.

“It represents a room of community, first and foremost, community where we can create work that is our own,” senior Ximena DiPietro said.

By: Matt Sczesny
Title: ‘We’re still going to be here’: FAU students find new purpose for shuttered DEI office
Sourced From: www.wptv.com/news/lgbtq/were-still-going-to-be-here-fau-students-find-new-purpose-for-shuttered-dei-office
Published Date: Tue, 21 May 2024 22:09:54 GMT

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Members of Fort Pierce’s City Commission said they didn’t know of potential solutions to the recent episode of gun violence in the city over the weekend.

The Fort Pierce Police Department said three people, one killed in a gunfight with police, died after a series of shootings in a three-block area in the city on Saturday. Officials announced another drive-by shooting close to those shootings on Monday afternoon caused property damage, but nobody was injured.

The city released a statement over the shooting Monday saying it was sad about the shooting saying its thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.

“Together, we are stronger. Together, we will heal,” it read.

WPTV went to the commission meeting to understand council members’ solutions and current efforts to address gun violence.

Mayor Linda Hudson said the problem in Fort Pierce isn’t different than in any city in the U.S. She said the city is unsure about the solution.

“We’re looking for it too, but every city in America is having this kind of problem. So, we’re open to it and we’re working on a lot of the things that need to happen,” Hudson said.

“That sounds like you don’t know what the solution is,” WPTV’s Ethan Stein told Hudson.

“Well, do you know what the solution is?” Hudson asked Stein.

“I wasn’t elected to, you know, run the city,” he answered.

“We’re continuing to work on everything that we can,” Hudson said.

She said the city collaborates with the school system on a roundtable executive to keep young people safe, performs community policing projects and has police officers play sports and help with homework with kids in poverty to reduce gun violence. Hudson also said it’s working on improving economics to stop crime as an option.

“It’s a one-on-one thing trying to show these kids there’s another way to live rather than use a gun,” Hudson said.

Fort Pierce police said the man, Bernard Smith, who was shooting at police officers was 28.

Commissioner Arnold Gaines said he knows some of the victims, which has made recent events more tragic for him. He also said he doesn’t know the solution.

“I don’t have the answers and I know everybody thinks that because we sit up here, we should have the answers,” Gaines said. “I’m looking for the answers. I’m hurting.”

Commissioner Curtis Johnson Jr. said he also knows some of the victims. He said many are his neighbors and mentioned an autopsy might show drugs as a possible motive for shootings.

“We understand what they might be on or taking and that may lead to some clues,” Johnson said.

Commissioner Jeremiah Johnson indicated the amount of money the state legislatures appropriate to issues within the criminal justice system in the state budget, which a lobbyist from GrayRobinson estimated at 6%, was partially to blame for the episode of violence. He said the city should look at programs to stop gun violence.

“We have to figure out what resources we have to attribute to combatting these changes in our environment,” he said.

By: Ethan Stein
Title: ‘We’re looking for it:’ Mayor, commissioners don’t know solution after string of Fort Pierce shootings
Sourced From: www.wptv.com/news/region-st-lucie-county/fort-pierce/were-looking-for-it-mayor-and-city-commissioners-dont-know-solution-after-string-of-fort-pierce-shootings
Published Date: Tue, 21 May 2024 03:14:08 GMT

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Ron

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• Suspect faces 2 first-degree murder charges in shooting of man, woman

The John Carroll Catholic High School Lady Rams are playing in the FHSAA softball state semifinal Tuesday. The team knocked out two higher seeds Westminster Academy and Miami Christian to keep their title hopes alive.

The Fort Pierce team is set to take on University Christian of Jacksonville at 1 p.m. Tuesday in Clermont, Florida.

Coach Rico Rosado was hired in 2014, and three years later, he won his first state championship.

Now, seven years later, he’s looking to add another championship, this time with one of the youngest programs in the area.

Twenty-four hours before the big championship game, the Lady Rams and coaches were busy Monday preparing for Tuesday’s big game.

“We played good competition all year and finished the No. 1 seed in the district, which was the goal,” Rosado said. “The ultimate goal is to win state, and with the team, that was the goal that they gave themselves at the beginning of the season.”

The coach isn’t new to championship aspirations.

Rosado was hired as the Lady Rams’ head coach in 2014 and gave the athletic director a message after accepting the job.

“I told them to give me three years to make it to the state championship,” Rosado said. “He told me, ‘Don’t make that quote yet because you don’t know what you have.'”

Holding to his word, Rosado won the championship in 2017.

Now, seven years later, his girls walk down the hallways of John Carroll Catholic High School as the school cheers for them ahead of their state championship game.

“We’re just excited to be a part of this experience, and we’re excited to show everyone what we got and come out being the underdog,” Sophia Loreto, team captain and shortstop.

The underdog is correct.

The Lady Rams are the third seed in the tournament with Loreto the only senior on the team. The ladies say age and seeding are no excuses, despite University Christian being last year’s state champions.

“Ever since my freshman year, I’ve dreamed about this,” sophomore pitcher Makayla Ortiz said. “This is a dream come true, and I really want to do it for Solo (Sophia Loreto), our only senior. It’s really special and doesn’t feel real, but we’re here.”

During the Lady Rams game, the school will hold a special viewing of the game in the gym for students and staff to watch.

If John Carroll wins, they’ll play for the state title Wednesday against the winner of Evangelical Christian and Academy of the Lakes.

By: Kendall Hyde
Title: John Carroll Catholic High School softball team seeks ‘ultimate goal’ of state title
Sourced From: www.wptv.com/sports/local-sports/high-school/john-carroll-catholic-high-school-softball-team-seeks-ultimate-goal-of-state-title
Published Date: Tue, 21 May 2024 16:17:28 GMT

Read More

Ron

Website | + posts

• 1 dead, 1 missing after stolen car crashes into Martin County canal, deputies say
• 'Don't worry, I shot them both': Wellington neighbor accused of shooting couple over basketball hoop dispute
• Undocumented migrant accused of sexually assaulting 11-year-old girl in Lake Worth Beach
• Suspect faces 2 first-degree murder charges in shooting of man, woman