Recent leadership shakeups at Florida universities have some criticizing the process of picking new presidents as too secretive and too influenced by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
A 2022 law shields public higher education presidential search records. The hidden information includes the names of candidates who weren’t finalists.
Supporters say it incentivizes high-quality candidates to apply.
But the University of Florida only had one finalist and thus only had to release one name: Santa Ono, who was the president of the University of Michigan.
The UF Board of Trustees approved him this past week. He now must be OK’d by the State University System’s Board of Governors.
Still, public records advocate Barbara Petersen believes having only one finalist makes the process more of a “formality.”
“If they've already decided on one person, the chances of that one person not getting the job are slim to none,” Petersen said. “And we're not finding out anything until the very end of the process.”
UF officials told Pplitico that other university presidents were interested but wanted their names to remain confidential.
Concerns over governor’s influence
Another sole finalist named at another university: Jeanette Nuñez, DeSantis' former lieutenant governor, at Florida International University. She's already 0interim president.
And she’s not the only DeSantis administration official or ally to get elevated to university leadership.
The Florida A&M University Board of Trustees recently picked a lobbyist with ties to the governor as its next president.
Marva Johnson, who served on the Florida State Board of Education, said her relationship with DeSantis would be a plus for the historically Black university.
ALSO READ: FAMU presidential selection reflects a trend in Florida higher education
But critics worry about her lack of higher education experience. They’re also concerned that she was picked as part of DeSantis’ push against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Additionally, in 2023, Richard Corcoran, DeSantis’ first education commissioner, was tapped to oversee the conservative overhaul of New College of Florida in Sarasota.
This past week, DeSantis’ latest education commissioner, Manny Díaz Jr., was named interim president of the University of West Florida.
At the approval meeting, Alonzie Scott, a UWF trustee, called the selection process a “travesty.”
“They bring some communist in to be the president of a university, and I'm just supposed to sit there and twiddle my thumbs? That's not how I roll.”Gov. Ron DeSantis
“I don't know of any place in any job that I've ever had in my entire career where you select one person and you ... give them to a board and make that be the only choice,” Scott said.
He later asked Chair Rebecca Matthews, “Who specifically did you talk to to determine that this was the best candidate to bring before the board?"
“Many folks,” Matthews responded, including community members and the state Board of Governors.
ALSO READ: Boycott threats abound as FAMU ponders what's next after a controversial presidential pick
The UWF Board of Trustees ultimately approved Díaz in an 8-2 vote.
Matthews called him “a tireless leader and an advocate with endless ideas to brainstorm.”
In April comments, before UWF president Martha Saunders announced her resignation, DeSantis said there would be "some big changes" at the university. He accused it of having "some of the most liberal programs" in Florida.
Its Board of Trustees has received a number of new appointees, some with conservative organization ties — and no ties to the school itself.
Bill increasing transparency filed and failed
The state House passed a bill this year that would have peeled back the 2022 law hiding presidential search information.
It also would have limited the governor's sway in the process. It said officials like the governor couldn’t talk with higher education leadership about a presidential position vacancy or an anticipated vacancy.
Republican Rep. Michelle Salzman of Pensacola, the bill sponsor, said it wasn’t “an attack on our great governor” but about transparency.
But the governor came out swinging against the legislation.
“They bring some communist in to be the president of a university, and I'm just supposed to sit there and twiddle my thumbs? That's not how I roll,” DeSantis said.
(Note: the governor appoints the majority of the higher education officials that pick the presidents.)
The Senate version of the legislation didn’t go nearly as far, but it would have required at least three presidential finalists to be selected. The chamber didn’t even pass that weaker legislation, and the effort died this session.
DeSantis distances himself from Ono
Despite the concern over the governor’s influence and his opposition to the House bill, DeSantis distanced himself from UF’s choice of Ono on Thursday.
DeSantis said he didn’t know Ono.
“I wasn't the one that picked the candidate,” he said. “My view is like, let [the board members] do their job, let the process unfold.”
Ono has gotten flack from various influential conservatives, including Donald Trump Jr., who accuse him of being too progressive.
“People have pointed out a lot of statements that he has made that are not exactly what we're looking for in a state where woke goes to die, and I cringe at some of these statements,” DeSantis said.
“I think the folks that were involved in the search, after having interviewed him, spent time with him. It's their judgment that he's really kind of reached the limit on the campus leftism, and he would want to leave Michigan, where that is prevalent.”
DeSantis said if Ono didn’t meet expectations, he would be fired.
If you have any questions about the state government or the legislative process, you can ask the Your Florida team by clicking here.
This story was produced by WUSF as part of a statewide journalism initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
