Florida Institute of Technology President John Nicklow was seen on recorded video talking about how the university was adjusting language related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the school’s programs in order to secure $7 million in government funding, according to O’Keefe Media Group (OMG).

Video of a meeting that was obtained by OMG showed Nicklow speaking to other university faculty, saying that he had a “$7 million ask” regarding a program at the school while he reportedly met with a government official. He recalled that in the meeting regarding the $7 million, the individual he met with asked, “Why are you so woke?” and then pointed to the college’s ICCM (Institute for Culture, Collaboration, and Management) and another example of another program. 

Nicklow said he then “called Rich” and they “kind of tweaked the language.” He then added, “These people are just looking for words, okay,” referring to government officials. “They are simply searching, whatever comes back on [the] web, searching without understanding.”

OMG reported that “after that meeting, the President of the University went against the deal and then said he was going to fight back with the $7 million.” In the video, Nicklow said that he had wanted to fight back, because he said that $7 million is a “lot of money” to lose, then added, “If we have to change some words, so they’re not being scraped, and so we’re not targeted—[it] allows us to do our work.” When confronted by O’Keefe, Nicklow said the reporting was “not true,” and OMG was hit with a cease and desist letter.

The head of the school of psychology, Julie Costopoulos, was also seen on video asking if the department should change the language of the course catalogue because it is publicly available and has classes with terms related to DEI. Nicklow replied that the courses should keep being taught but advised those in the meeting to be mindful of how they present information to the public.

“You’re not going to get fired for teaching those courses,” Nicklow told the group of university faculty on video.