The Florida legislature ended its 2022 session March 14 without passing the bill that would have opened the door to renaming BK Roberts Hall at FSU's College of Law. Senate Bill 1858, filed in January by Sen. Randolph Bracy, D-Ocoee, would have repealed the 1973 law (73-370) that named the building after Roberts. It was referred to the Senate Education committee January 12, but was never set for a hearing and the measure died in committee when the legislature ended last week. The Education Committee is headed by Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, who is also chair of the Florida Republican Party.
Expectations were not high this year since the composition of the legislature was essentially the same as 2021 where the bill also failed to advance, likely due to lack of support from the leadership. Even some long-time backers were less enthusiastic this year given the long odds, many feeling that it was insanity to keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. After 3 years of futility trying to pass a stand alone bill, a new strategy to add an amendment to an existing education bill did not work either. The climate next year is expected to be more favorable with new leadership in the House and Senate taking over for 2023 coupled with the fact the fall elections will probably change at least some of the senators and representatives.
While the building is still officially designated BK Roberts Hall, FSU last summer removed the lettering from the side of the building identifying it as such. Roberts was instrumental in founding the FSU law school in the 1960s, leading the legislature to put his name on the building, despite several opinions Roberts wrote in the 1950s as Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court that prevented blacks from enrolling at state universities, even after the US Supreme Court had ordered Florida to admit them.