University of Florida Disbands College Republicans Over Nazi Salute — Then Gets Sued Over It

What began as a campus disciplinary matter has rapidly escalated into a First Amendment legal battle, a flashpoint in Florida's 2026 governor's race, and a case study in just how complicated campus antisemitism enforcement has become — especially when the group being sanctioned is a political organization at a public university.

The University of Florida announced Saturday that it is moving to deactivate its College Republicans chapter as a registered student organization, after being informed by the Florida Federation of College Republicans that the federation had disbanded the Gainesville chapter on March 14. The reason: some members had "engaged in a pattern of conduct that violated its rules and values, including a recent antisemitic gesture" — a Nazi salute, according to multiple reports.

By Monday afternoon, the UF College Republicans had filed a federal First Amendment lawsuit to block the deactivation. The story was moving faster than almost anyone involved could manage.

What Happened

The Florida Federation of College Republicans, the statewide organization that oversees campus chapters, initiated the disbandment after finding that members had engaged in what it described as a pattern of misconduct culminating in a Nazi salute that was shared online. The FFCR — not the university — initiated the disbandment. At the FFCR's request, the University of Florida then moved to deactivate the group as a registered student organization.

UF officials declined to confirm specific details of the allegation beyond their statement, saying only that they had been notified of the federation's findings and were acting accordingly. The university stated it will support reactivation of the chapter under new student leadership when the FFCR approves.

The UF College Republicans pushed back immediately, posting on social media that the FFCR "has no authority over our chapter" and asserting that the chapter is affiliated with the College Republicans of America — not the FFCR. The CRA's chairman, William Branson Donahue, backed that claim, calling the FFCR's action "a lie."

The chapter also implied that the real reason for the deactivation was retaliation — arguing it was punished for hosting an event two days earlier with James Fishback, a Florida gubernatorial candidate who has been critical of the Republican establishment's position on Israel.

The Lawsuit: A First Amendment Fight at a Public University

Former Florida state Rep. Anthony Sabatini filed a First Amendment retaliation lawsuit under Section 1983 on March 16, naming UF President Donald Landry as a defendant. The suit alleges that UF's cooperation with the FFCR violated the chapter's First Amendment rights on public university campuses and demands the chapter's immediate reinstatement.

The legal argument is substantive and worth taking seriously. Public universities occupy a unique constitutional position: they are government entities bound by the First Amendment, which means they generally cannot deactivate student organizations based on the viewpoint those organizations express. The Supreme Court established that principle clearly in Rosenberger v. University of Virginia (1995) and reinforced it repeatedly since.

The harder question — and the one a federal judge will need to sort out — is whether the deactivation is based on viewpoint (impermissible) or on conduct (potentially permissible). Performing a Nazi salute is an expressive act, which complicates the university's ability to treat it purely as a conduct violation. But a "pattern of conduct" that includes antisemitic behavior may meet the bar for a non-viewpoint-based disciplinary action, particularly if that conduct crosses into harassment of other students.

Neither side's legal position is as clean as its advocates suggest.

A Florida Pattern — and a Political Context

The UF deactivation is the second time this month that a Florida public university has taken action against a Republican-affiliated group accused of antisemitic or racist behavior. Earlier in March, 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 that included violently racist slurs, antisemitic comments, and misogynistic language — a chat that involved students and several top conservative leaders at FIU.

Last fall, New York's Republican State Committee suspended a Young Republican organization following the release of a group chat that included jokes about rape and flippant commentary on gas chambers.

Together the cases suggest a pattern: private or semi-private communications and gestures within conservative student organizations that, when exposed, have triggered institutional responses — and then legal and political counter-responses.

The Florida cases are unfolding against an unusually charged backdrop. Antisemitism and the government's relationship to the state of Israel have become central issues in the Florida governor's race, with more than 40 candidates having filed to run in November to replace Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Republican primary field includes Rep. Byron Donalds, Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, former state House Speaker Paul Renner, and James Fishback — the candidate whose event the UF College Republicans hosted two days before their disbandment.

Fishback told reporters he opposed the university's decision to deactivate the chapter and condemned antisemitism, but suggested the situation needed to be understood in a broader political context. "There's always going to be the real reason and the protectional reason," he said.

The Bipartisan Condemnation — and What It Means

Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida issued a statement that cut through the complexity with unusual directness. "Antisemitism has no place in the Republican Party, higher education, or our country. Grateful to UF for working with the FFCR to stand with Jewish students and resolve this quickly," Scott wrote on social media.

For a Republican senator to publicly endorse a public university's deactivation of a Republican student organization — in the same political moment that universities are being relentlessly attacked for suppressing conservative speech — is a notable signal. It suggests that at least some Republican leaders view the antisemitism line as genuinely non-negotiable, even when it is their own organizations crossing it.

The University of Florida, for its part, stated: "The University of Florida has emphatically supported its Jewish community and remains committed to preventing and addressing antisemitism and other forms of discrimination and harassment that are threatening and disruptive to our students and to the teaching, research and expressive activities of the campus community. The university also supports the rights of organizations, such as the FFCR, to take decisive action in addressing conduct that is antithetical to its principles."

What This Means for Students

For Jewish students at the University of Florida and across the country, the case is a reminder that antisemitism on campus does not come only from the direction universities have spent the past two years focused on. The campus antisemitism debate has been overwhelmingly shaped by protests over Israel and Gaza, and by concerns about left-leaning student groups and faculty. The UF case is a reminder that the problem is not ideologically bounded.

For students involved in campus political organizations more broadly — including College Republicans chapters at other universities — the case raises questions about accountability, the limits of organizational authority, and what happens when private conduct becomes public. The lawsuit's outcome could have significant implications for how public universities handle misconduct within political student groups nationwide.

A federal court has not yet ruled on the injunction request. The situation is developing.