Ted Ellis will lead FSU's new Civil Rights Institute amid political uncertainties

As Ted Ellis takes the helm of Florida State University’s Civil Rights Institute as its inaugural full-time director, he already sees the kind of mark he wishes to leave on the campus community — despite disagreement over diversity, equity and inclusion policies, or DEI.

“I get to impact 40,000-plus students at FSU in this space with the institute, and I'm just getting started," said Ellis, a New Orleans native, renowned artist and former chemist.

The Civil Rights Institute, housed within the university’s College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, was founded by siblings Doby and Fred Flowers in 2018. Both are FSU alumni and civil-rights advocates.

More on the Civil Rights Institute: Siblings' vision: Civil Rights Institute at Florida State University holds inaugural event Thursday

"It's almost like a miracle that this is coming into fruition after all these years of hard work," Fred Flowers, a longtime Tallahassee attorney, told the Tallahassee Democrat. "We're at the beginning stages of a new era."

Doby Flowers added that she thinks the institute will be an "instrument to bring people together and move better policies."

The institute was created to curate museum exhibits, hold speaker events and build library collections that focus on civil rights and social change.

“It's a lot that has to be done in this space, but goal is to have the students engaged in understanding the history of the civil rights — gaining past knowledge, present knowledge and advancing that forward,” Ellis said.

Ellis graduated from Dillard University in 1986 with a bachelor's degree in chemistry and worked as an environmental chemist for several years before earning a master's degree in museum studies from the Southern University at New Orleans in 2019 and became a chemist.

As a professional artist, his work features portraits of civil rights icons such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks — showcased in the halls of Congress — and he owns T. Ellis Fine Art, a business that specializes in selling original African American fine art.

He says he has a love for art and a passion for “history, culture, equity and justice.”

“When we talk about cultural activism and advocacy, that's what I do with my paint, and I have been doing it for a very long time,” Ellis said. “Speaking to the importance of African American history is valuable.”

With the controversy of Florida’s law that dismantles diversity, equity and inclusion programs from public colleges and universities, DEI-related activities and programs on college campuses across the state have been functioning with uncertainty.

More: Florida universities were told to prioritize diversity plans. Now, DeSantis aims to gut them

But Ellis assured that the anti-DEI law is not a bump in the road for the institute’s existence on campus: “When you deal in history and primary source evidence, you don't have that issue,” he said, “and that’s the position that the Civil Rights Institute is in.”

He added, “Language around programs change all the time because of who's writing the policies. But when you look at history — the importance of the Constitution, for example — it's about justice and equity for every citizen in the United States, so there's accountability in that space.”

One of Ellis’s overall missions for the institute is drawing heavy student engagement to share information about what is “legislatively centered around civil rights.” He plans on holding a symposium through the institute, where faculty members will hold discussions about civil rights.

Ellis also hopes for the symposium initiative to later become a major platform where other institutions across the nation can partner with FSU through the Civil Rights Institute.

“This institution is here to serve the students and get us to understand that we have to be better human beings,” Ellis said, “and that's my responsibility — no matter how sensitive it is around the history of civil rights.”

Tim Chapin, dean of the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, says Ellis is the “perfect person” to take on the director role.

Although the university announced the appointment in October, Ellis started his position over the summer as a result of a national search that was conducted in the spring.

“I was immediately impressed by his intellect, passion and artistic talent, as well as his unwavering commitment to celebrating and advancing Civil Rights in the United States,” Chapin said.

The College of Social Sciences and Public Policy is a university leader in celebrating the diversity of people and ideas, Chapin added, and the institute "has found fertile university soil within which it can blossom.”

The institute's annual operating budget is $250,000 for the next three years, according to Ellis, and additional targeted funds will come from grants, fundraisers and financial distributions through donors.

What's next: An event called "The Journey to Justice" will be held 6:30 p.m. Monday in the FSU College of Medicine's auditorium, 1115 W. Call St., where individuals can meet Ellis as he further discusses his vision. The event is free and open to the public.

Contact Tarah Jean at tjean@tallahassee.com or follow her on X: @tarahjean_.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU Civil Rights Institute gets its first director: Ted Ellis