PRSA “Gator”-Alum / 2024 Nat’l Chair Defamed a Faith-Based University

Legally obtained e-mails from a government open-records request have revealed that Joseph Abreu, who served as Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) National Chair in 2024 and is a University of Florida alumnus, falsely accused a Christian, faith-based university in Florida — Palm Beach Atlantic University (PBAU) — of violating federal law, for holding stated religious beliefs about marriage between men and women.

In the process, Joseph Abreu likely violated U.S. Civil Rights law, by invoking his own personal biases (plural) during deliberations about an official PRSA academic certification process and arguing against religious free-expression rights of faith-based universities — thereby creating extra, artificial hoops for the faith-based PR program in question to jump through, to pass muster with PRSA.

Abreu’s false claim came about, in a (legally obtained) e-mail between Abreu and his other like-minded PRSA colleagues, who were evaluating Palm Beach Atlantic University for PRSA’s CEPR “Certification.”

PRSA manages, markets, and promotes the “Certification in Education for Public Relations” (CEPR) program.

As to be expected from PRSA — which announced a “doubling down on DEI” posture last February — PRSA enforces an illegal DEI mandate on CEPR-participating universities, forcing them to cough up gender, ethnicity, and national origin data for students in the PR academic programs PRSA evaluates:

While PRSA’s “Educational Affairs Committee” conducts the site visits and legwork of evaluating university programs for the CEPR credential, the PRSA National Board gets final vote and say-so on who gets the CEPR among university PR academic programs … and who doesn’t.

It’s here, where Joseph Abreu and PRSA’s Gator Mafia are way out over their skis, with egregious conflicts of interest and ideological bullying, from an ethics / compliance standpoint.

For example, one of the other certifiers appointed by PRSA to conduct PBAU’s certification evaluation was not only another fellow University of Florida alumnus with Abreu, but also a current UF PR program-compensated employee, Mickey Nall.

The University of Florida is a geographic competitor with PBAU — with both universities sited in Florida.

In separate, legally obtained e-mail from Abreu to PRSA’s then-CEO, Linda Thomas Brooks, in February 2022, Abreu said point-blank:

“As you know, Gators are protective over their territory.”

Well… Is that so, Abreu?

Given that Abreu and his fellow Gators have certainly proven precisely that point repeatedly — for many years now of their rife PRSA abuses of power — I personally think no University of Florida Gators should ever be allowed to sit on any PRSA or PR industry academic evaluation / certification / accreditation team, lording over other universities.

Heaven forbid, any university competitor trod upon PRSA Gator Mafia “territory.”

So, for starters — even apart from PRSA’s / Abreu’s partisan, ideological bullying problem — no university should be subjected to final deliberations and judgments, when two of the only four PRSA deliberators present (Abreu and Nall) come from, and are fiercely loyal to, the same geographic-competitor university (in Nall’s / Abreu’s case, the University of Florida).

To be sure, in PRSA National circles, the University of Florida “Gator Mafia” wake of cartel behavior is well-documented.

It’s far more than a mere clique or a cabal. These people are imposing seriously problematic biases and conflicts of interest into all kinds of PRSA operations, where they absolutely have no business doing so — at least not legally or in compliance with U.S. antitrust laws.

The degree of self-dealing has been epic, for many years.

To wit, the PRSA “Gator Mafia” brigade is nothing short of OBSESSED with receiving national PRSA awards and plaques and trophies and ill-gotten claims of greatness, from other PRSA Gator Mafia folk, and then being congratulated publicly for it by other Gators…

I could go on and on with more screen shots of Gator self-servitude in PRSA, but why beat a dead-beat gator?

You get the point of the PRSA “Gator Mafia” Mutual Admiration Society… and how PRSA has allowed these outright abuses of power to satisfy Gator egos, at the expense of organizational integrity.

Going back to PRSA’s discrimination against PBAU…

PRSA’s certification coordinator, Dr. Susan Gonders, had noted in her report to Abreu regarding PBAU:

“...the university’s website also posts a view of human sexuality that states, despite the 2015 Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, that ‘marriage is between a man and a woman.’ The reviewers researched the public relations program’s online presence and found compelling evidence that LGBTQIA+ students feel free of intimidation or threats. It is recommended that the program continue to build on initiatives to protect students and prospective students from any intimidation, especially concerns that may be raised from statements in the university’s website.”

I know Dr. Susan Gonders from many years ago. Nice lady and an accomplished educator.

She even invited me to come guest lecture in Missouri where she taught, some 20 years ago — long before PRSA, in a Gator Mafia effort led by Abreu in 2021 and participated in fully by Nall, Galloway and Fiske, made it PRSA’s business to retaliate, defame and boycott me from PRSA illegally, for my reporting PRSA’s ethics and compliance failures.

However, I disagree with the spirit and the core suppositions of Dr. Gonders’ remarks.

It’s a bridge too far, to state that just because a faith-based university holds specific views on marriage with which any reasonable person may agree or disagree, that said university automatically would be some kind of “intimidator” / menace to students, meriting students receiving special “protection.”

It’s like it never intellectually dawned on these people that individuals who voluntarily attend PBAU do so, for the express purpose of being steeped in an environment of faith-based community with shared religious views on these matters.

Dr. Gonders’ remark — about the 2015 Supreme Court ruling — failed to take into account that recognized religious freedoms and rights of interpretation / free expression were still upheld in this SCOTUS ruling:

Abreu then errantly responded in his e-mail to Dr. Gonders, saying of PBAU, “their perspective of DEI and LGBT human rights are not in alignment with federal law.”

Abreu also asked Dr. Gonders, “Is there a reason why they are holding onto the incorrect statement on their website about marriage being between a man and a woman?“

To the contrary, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that any faith-based institution of higher learning is well-within its rights to hold whatever views of marriage they wish, under their own rights of religious freedom.

So, PBAU was breaking no laws.

As per usual, Joseph Abreu didn’t know what he was talking about.

Instead, PRSA itself arguably was breaking U.S. Civil Rights law, with such condemnations and behind-the-scenes bullying of a faith-based institution — including this exchange of clearly seeking to dock PRSA’s evaluation of PBAU, to place the university in a compromised position, with lost ground to make up from PRSA’s standpoint, per PRSA’s errantly perceived non-“alignment” issues.

Neither PRSA nor Abreu appear to observe others’ Constitutionally protected religious rights and freedoms whatsoever.

Instead, PRSA’s own biases and all-out arrogance against anyone who does not embrace their left-wing political ideology emboldened Abreu to make uninformed, false, and damaging remarks about an institution like PBAU, with Abreu even claiming / suggesting (in writing!) that the folks at PBAU are federal law-violators — thereby defaming the university on unsubstantiated and wholly errant / ignorant grounds.

Abreu also wrote back to the PRSA certifier team:

“I would also like to learn more about what the researchers discovered about LGBTQIA+ students being free of intimidation or threats. Their school policies strictly prohibit “views of sexuality and gender expression that contradicts with biblical standards.” PBAU has been repeatedly accused of taking actions against LGBT students and staff, and it was just in the news last year for allegations that it terminated a teacher for teaching about racial justice because it was “indoctrinating” students. https://www.wbur.org/npr/1164530319/florida-professor-fired-racial-justice-woke

“I just want to make sure that the university is a place where LGBTQ and Black students and staff are not targeted and/or harmed, and are allowed to be themselves.”

Sidebar: What does being part of a racial demographic cohort of “Black students and staff” have to do with the marriage debate? Other than absolutely nothing.

Here, it’s obvious that Abreu makes the unethical and intellectually lazy leap, to cast even more false aspersions about PBAU, by his implying that their faith-based values specific to definitions of marriage ABSOLUTELY MUST MAKE THEM RACIST, to boot.

Not satisfied with his merely implying PBAU folks are law-breakers and racists, PRSA’s Abreu then further defamed PBAU, in an additional e-mail response to the PRSA Certification team, accusing the university of “homophobia.”

Abreu wrote:

“While they do adhere to the other standards, I don’t feel PBAU will budge on the homophobia, even six years from now. It is unfortunate that an institution would perpetuate it in the name of the Lord, but it is the world we live in – not just with PBAU.

“I just hope that their students have the support they need to flourish despite having to face that adversity. When I was at the University of Florida, I was able to serve openly as the chair of Pride Awareness Month and was active in the Pride Student Union for many years. That service directly impacted who I am today. Of course, knowing who I am, I would never have attended a religious institution.”

Abreu committed his libel against PBAU on his employer’s government-issued, taxpayer-funded, Lee County Clerk of the Court & Comptroller e-mail server.

Abreu was later found on a PRSA-posted video, boasting publicly from his Lee Clerk’s Office desk, of how “qualified” he himself is as a PRSA leader:

Meanwhile, PRSA itself is a perennial (and current!) violator of U.S. Civil Rights law — all thanks to Abreu and his ideological ilk in PRSA.

PRSA requires race-based criteria for PRSA Foundation student access to many PRSA scholarships and internships.

PRSA’s racial litmus test is illegal — but somehow, the PRSA Educational Affairs Committee and PRSA National Board turn a blind eye to PRSA’s own law-breaking.

Mary Beth West is a long-time activist, fighting PRSA’s entrenched cartel activities and culture of corruption.