FIU president’s ethical stand on racist chat deserves praise | Opinion

Truth and consequences

As a retired Florida International University professor and staunch supporter of FIU for decades, I was shocked after reading the Miami Herald’s exposé about vile conversations on a Republican “WhatsApp” student chat room. The malicious and violent nature of its content stunned. Even more troubling was that a Miami Republican Party secretary was the instigator of and participant in this foul forum.

I am grateful to the Herald for fully investigating this stench of a narrative, which included names and explicit details, along with comments from involved leaders’ interviews about their betrayal of human dignity and decency.

FIU president Jeanette Nuñez issued an unequivocal declaration of disgust and absolute intolerance for the aberrant behavior: “FIU does not and will not tolerate violence, hate, discrimination, harassment, racism or antisemitism. This is not who we are. This is not what FIU stands for.”

Nuñez’s prompt and ethical stand will move FIU toward consequential action (hopefully expulsion) for this despicable student misconduct. I can only hope the Republican Party secretary also will be held accountable, for not only instigating this “chat room,” but also for encouraging the profane misconduct of our young men and women to whom FIU has provided stellar opportunities to grow and lead with grace and integrity.

I grew up in the segregated south and still remember Martin Luther King Jr.’s words: “In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.”

In an upside-down world begging for ethical leadership, will we be remembered only for our silence?

Joan T. Wynne,

Miramar

State of the union

Thank you, Miami Herald, for reporter Jacqueline Charles’ March 8 story, “Thomas Jefferson, Slavery and Haiti.” It is deeply heartening that some institutions are standing up to the Trump administration’s Stalin-like attempt to rewrite history, particularly its whitewashing of Black history.

As we approach our nation’s 250th anniversary, the false construct of “race” — as perpetuated by 18th century rulers as proof of their own superiority and as a justification to profit from that smug assumption — is inextricable from the founding of our nation.

That President Trump can blithely declare that Haitian-Americans are eating people’s pets points to a larger problem for the country. Sadly, Trump’s presidency is not some misguided aberration but, rather, deeply American.

Steve Kronen,

South Miami

Vulgar utopia

Re: the March 6 story, “‘Nazi heaven’: Inside Miami campus Republicans’ racist group chat.” A few years ago, I visited a former Nazi concentration camp. There are no words to express the sheer horror of the inhumane treatment the prisoners received. For years, German schoolchildren have been required to visit the camps, write about them and learn from their history.

Hate was on full display in the FIU group chats. How disgusting and appalling. Apparently, these chats have been going on for quite some time.

Now, politicians are trying to distance themselves from the fallout. To those who contributed to these disturbing comments and to those who did not report them, a famous quote comes to mind: “Have you no sense of decency?”

Felix Pardo,

Coral Gables

Disarming Iran

Based on the flood of articles published against the war in Iran, my sentiments are in the minority. I understand, for instance, the libertarian point of view, that unless the bombs are falling on our sacred soil, hands off fighting on foreign soil.

In the 1950s, I served in the U.S. Air Force and flew a B-47 Stratojet with two nukes in our belly. I felt rather confident the theory of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) would work and that my chances of destroying my father’s birthplace in the Soviet Union were remote. MAD worked with the Soviets because they did not want to lose Moscow, nor did we want to lose New York City.

MAD would not work for the leaders of Iran because they are religious fanatics and would use these bombs if they had them. Iran has been killing Americans one way or another for 47 years. The time has come to defang them.

Roger Shatanof,

Coral Gables

Day and night

Re: the March 9 Miami Herald online editorial, “Biannual time change must end, but Floridians may not like the best alternative.” Every medical authority, including the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, is against Daylight Saving Time (DST). It significantly interferes with the natural circadian rhythm programmed into our brains through thousands of years of human evolution.

We need the sun upon awakening and darkness at day’s end, not the other way around. When DST approaches annually, I live in dread of the disturbance it will bring to my well-being.

Scott Eber,

Miami

Congregation closes

Temple Beth Or in Kendall has echoed with prayer and song for 45 years. In February, those echoes faded. After nearly half a century of worship and community life, our small 60-family congregation closed its doors and merged with Temple Beth Am, the largest congregation in the Southeast, marking the end of an era and the beginning of a hopeful, promising and exciting new chapter.

Over the years, Temple Beth Or was more than a building. It was where Bar and Bat Mitzvahs were celebrated; where mourners found comfort in the embrace of tradition; where lifelong friendships were forged.

Temple Beth Am, with its larger campus and diversified programming, promises expanded opportunities for worship and community engagement. We have already seen that under the leadership of Rabbi Jeremy Barras. The intimacy, volunteerism and sense of belonging can be carried into a larger institutional setting without being diluted.

As Temple Beth Or closes its door, that legacy is already finding renewed life within Temple Beth Am; not an ending but a transformation — a testament not to decline, but to continuity of Jewish life in South Florida.

Mel Tenen,

president,

Temple Beth Or,

Kendall

Affordable energy

Re: the March 7 Miami Herald online story, “What have Florida lawmakers done to help with the rising cost of living?” These lawmakers haven’t done a thing to address the outrageous electricity bills facing families and small business owners and that is unacceptable. According to Food & Water Watch analysis, between 2020 and 2025, ratepayer electricity bills rose 56% for Tampa Electric, 42% for Duke Energy and 36% for Florida Power & Light.

Bipartisan legislation this year by State Sens. Carlos Guillermo Smith and Don Gaetz and State Rep. Alex Andrade would have helped lower power bills by establishing guardrails on what utilities can charge ratepayers, including requiring more transparency from Gov. DeSantis’ hand-picked utility regulators when rate hike proceedings happen.

The influence of corporate utility lobbyists has led to a do-nothing state legislature that has failed to act on affordable energy this year. This fight is not over. As lawmakers return to their districts, this issue will hound them. They will be called upon to publicly support affordable energy and utility reform. Floridians need real action in the next year and it’s time our state leaders push real solutions to address out-of-control energy bills.

Isabella Moeller,

Tampa

Radical bunch

After Charlie Kirk’s violent death last September, many people said the Turning Point USA (TPUSA) co-founder was a racist. Apparently, the leadership of Florida International University’s chapter of TPUSA has proven that the conservative nonprofit organization promotes a culture of racism.

Turning Point has a documented history of institutionalized racism and should be banned from state colleges and universities as a hate group.

Don Deresz,

Miami

This story was originally published March 13, 2026 at 10:33 AM.