One day after Chairman Scott Yenor resigned from the University of West Florida Board of Trustees due to mounting opposition, the confirmation process began Thursday for three other recent appointees.
Christopher Young, Paul Bailey and Gates Garcia faced tough questioning from members of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Higher Education, before they voted.
The toughest questioning came from Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, a Democrat from Orlando, in reference to their support for Yenor, despite his many controversial comments.
"Just to select one of the most high profile ones, 'Every effort must be made not recruit women into engineering, but rather to recruit and demand more of men who become engineers. Ditto, for medical school, and the law, and every trade,'" said Smith, quoting Yenor.
Smith asked each of the trustees to defend their votes to elect Yenor as chairman of the UWF BOT.
First to respond was Trustee Young, an attorney from Panama City.
RELATED: Save UWF town hall draws standing room only crowd. Community leaders urge people to 'speak up'
"Senator Smith, I did vote for him," Young acknowledged. "In hindsight, if I had known about the context of the comments that were made I would stand for you and tell you that was a bad decision. I would not have voted for him."
Trustee Bailey of Fort Walton Beach, an attorney and professor at Pensacola Christian College, had a similar response. "Honestly, in hindsight, if I had knowledge that I have now, I would not have voted for him," declared Bailey.
Also on the hotseat was Trustee Garcia, CEO of a private equity firm in Tampa.
"I voted for Mr. Yenor's track record in education reform," said Garcia, explaining why he supported Yenor.
He also told the panel that he was not aware of Yenor's controversial statements about women, Jews, and gays.
"I was not aware of those statements, when I made those comments," he said.
Sen. Smith questioned how the trustees could not have known about Yenor's statements even though it was circulating on every local news outlet and throughout the community.
Garcia was also questioned about whether his support for Yenor's position on women in the workplace. Speaking at the National Conservatism Conference in 2021, Yenor labeled "independent women" as "medicated, meddlesome and quarrelsome."
Three people from the public spoke in opposition to the three appointees, including former UWF President, Dr. Judy Bense, one of the organizers of Save UWF.
"What troubles us is that they don't have higher education experience," said Bense.
RELATED: UWF Trustee Kissel not confirmed by Senate appropriations committee
She pointed out that in the past, the university has benefited from trustees who have worked their way up on committees on campus, in the community, working with students, and understanding the community. Her point is that these roles help them to know about UWF.
"These trustees just haven't had a chance to do that and we think that is something that is missing in all of them," she said.
Bense expressed particular concern for Trustee Garcia's statements that he's in agreement with former Chair Yenor's education policies.
"We do find that troubling," she said. "As Sen. Smith has pointed out, some of those are deeply disturbing and if that's the case, we are worried about that."
Additionally, Bense expressed the importance of having trustees with ties to the region and university.
"How can you possibly lead something you know nothing about or just learned in the last few months," she pondered.
In closing, Bense suggested that the trustees are good people, but added, "There is nothing wrong with the University of West Florida."
Honey Harris and Jacquelin Hartstein also spoke in opposition to UWF Trustees Garcia, Young, and Bailey.
Despite the concerns that were expressed, members of the committee voted to favorably refer the UWF appointees to the Senate Committee on Ethics and Education for their next confirmation hearing. The final step is a full senate vote.
"We will be carefully watching the Board of Trustees of the University of West Florida," said Committee Chairwoman Gayle Harrell, a Republican from Stuart, before her vote on Garcia's appointment.
Sen. Smith, the only Democrat present at the meeting, voted against all three trustees.
Last month, the committee rejected controversial nominee Adam Kissel, when he appeared for his first confirmation hearing.
Also during Thursday's meeting, the Senate Appropriations Committee on Higher Education voted in favor of SB 1726, which requires university and college trustees to be residents of the Florida or alums of the institutions they want to represent. Rep. Michelle Salzman, a Republican from Pensacola, is sponsor of a similar bill (HB 1321) in the Florida House.
Copyright 2025 WUWF
