Diaz, Nuñez, Johnson: How many DeSantis allies lead Florida universities and colleges?

Yahoo

24-06-2025

Of all the changes Ron DeSantis has made during his time as governor of Florida, one of the most lasting may be his mark on education.
For years, DeSantis has waged war on what he called false ideological practices, wokeness and DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) practices in an effort to overhaul the state's school system to align with his priorities.
Florida lawmakers, under his recommendations and in the name of protecting parents' rights, have passed multiple bills restricting gender identity and discussion of sexual orientation, banning LGBTQ+ and inclusion displays, banning transgender athletes from competing on women's public school teams, streamlining the process of challenging books in school libraries and classrooms, adding tough new requirements on teacher unions, weakening tenure protections, and excising DEI and "critical race theory" elements from curriculums.
And one by one, positions in Florida's State University System (SUS) that in years past would be staffed by academics, researchers, or possibly business leaders with strong fundraising skills have been filled with Republican politicians, political allies and staff members from DeSantis' cabinet.
On June 2, Jeanette Nuñez, formerly DeSantis' lieutenant governor, was named president of Florida International University. The week before, former state education commissioner Manny Diaz was elected interim president of University of West Florida. DeSantis recommended his deputy chief of staff Anastasios Kamoutsas to replace him.
In cases where a direct DeSantis connection isn't involved, the governor's influence is still felt.
Santa Ono was on track to become the next president of the University of Florida and had been approved by UF's Board of Trustees but was shot down by the Board of Governors, a 17-member board that oversees the public university system, over his handling of pro-Palestine encampments in Michigan in 2024 and his past support of DEI initiatives, which he has since walked back.
Most of the 17 members were appointed during DeSantis' term.
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On June 2, Jeanette Nuñez, formerly DeSantis' lieutenant governor and a state representative, was named president of Florida International University.
Nuñez was one of three finalists for the position, but the other two said they would only continue to a public phase of the process if they were chosen as the lone candidate according to FIU Carlos Duart, who led the school's search committee.
Critics said that DeSantis helped get her the job, something one of the trustees appeared to admit when he supported her.
'I believe she will be a very successful president, and to be honest, if we don't pick her as our president, I suspect that tomorrow we are going to find out who the governor's office's second pick is,' Dean Colson said. 'I really like our first pick, so why would I take that chance?'
The appointment remains subject to approval by the SUS Board of Governors. Nuñez, an FIU grad who has served as interim president since February. is set to receive a five-year contract with a base salary of $925,000 and annual performance bonuses of up to $400,000.
Manny Diaz, the former commissioner of the Florida Department of Education, was selected on May 27 to be the interim president for the University of West Florida in Pensacola. Diaz served in the House from 2012 to 2018 and in the Senate from 2018 until 2022 when DeSantis recommended him as education commissioner.
Before entering politics, Diaz was a social studies teacher and baseball coach in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. He became an assistant principal and later chief operating officer at Doral College.
Diaz replaces UWF president Martha Saunders, who chose to step down after months of a contentious board of trustees meeting where newly appointed member Zach Smith grilled her about "diversity, equity and inclusion" issues he had identified when combing through UWF's social media. Smith had been appointed by DeSantis days earlier, one of several controversial DeSantis appointees to the board over the last few months.
Diaz will become interim president July 14 and is expected to eventually become the official president.
Over spirited objections and protests from the FAMU community of students, teachers and alumni, Marva Johnson was picked on May 16 to be president of Florida A&M University.
Johnson is not a politician but has been heavily involved in Republican politics, even as key organizer for Florida's COVID-scuttled plans to host the Republican National Convention in 2020. She previously served as a political appointee in the administrations of Governors Rick Scott and DeSantis and was chair of the Florida State Board of Education for four years. She also served on DeSantis' transition team in 2018.
Critics said she had no actual academic experience and feared she was put in place at the HBCU by DeSantis. There was widespread speculation that FAMU board Vice Chair Deveron Gibbons insisted on adding Johnson to what was initially a list of three final candidates committee members interviewed and voted on during closed sessions. Gibbons has denied this.
'I was not sent here to dismantle FAMU," Johnson said in a May 14 public forum. "I would love the opportunity to work with you and to grow FAMU.'
James Uthmeier, DeSantis' former chief of staff who was tapped to become the state's attorney general, seemed to acknowledge the governor's role in her appointment.
"Congratulations to Marva and @FAMU_1887 — what a terrific selection for the university community!" Uthmeier wrote on X. "And well done by team DeSantis and the SUS for driving this home! Great result for Florida's higher ed and next generation of leaders."
Johnson's hiring must be approved by the SUS Board of Governors. FAMU's Board of Trustees are currently negotiating the $750,000 base salary she requested but are pushing a $650,000 base salary with a possible $86,000 bonus.
On Feb. 10, Florida Atlantic University selected former House representative and Republican majority leader Adam Hasner over two finalists with academic administration backgrounds: FSU's College of Business Dean Michael Hartline and the University of Maine's Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs John Volin.
His lack of experience in higher education was criticized by some students and faculty members, and there were protests concerning his time working for The Geo Group, a company that operates private prisons.
'I believe I have the right skills and the right experience to lead this university at this pivotal time in its history,' he told the trustees, who voted unanimously in his favor.
DeSantis initially supported then-state representative and conservative firebrand Randy Fine for the job, but he was not included in the list of finalists. Two days after the list was released, the SUS chancellor halted the search over concerns about whether the search committee had broken government-transparency rules and the Board of Governors ultimately ordered the search to be done again.
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Mel Ponder was unanimously selected to be president of Northwest Florida State College in Niceville in November 2024. Previously he had been an Okaloosa County commissioner, mayor of Destin, a Destin City Council member and a representative in the Florida House.
Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Ponder to the CareerSource Florida board of directors in 2022 and reappointed him in 2023.
In April 2024, the State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota picked Tommy Gregory, a lawyer and Air Force veteran who chaired the state House Judiciary Committee, as its new president.
Gregory was a Republican representative from Lakewood Ranch elected to the House in 2018 who said he served as an instructor and course director during this two decades in the Air Force.
In January 2023, DeSantis appointed six new board of trustees at New College of Florida in Sarasota, which had a national reputation as a top public liberal arts college. The new board quickly fired sitting president Patricia Okker over her DEI policies and installed then-state commissioner of education and former Republican House representative and Florida Speaker of the House Richard Corcoran at an annual salary twice that of the former president.
DeSantis frequently said he wanted New College to be more like a conservative, classical liberal arts college such as the Christian Hillsdale College in Michigan, and Cocoran and the board have worked toward that goal. Since taking power, they have abolished the school's DEI office, fired the school's dean for DEI initiatives and hired a former Republican Party operative to be admissions officer with a direction to actively try to recruit more student-athletes.
In April 2024, the board approved a $200,000 bonus for Corcoran, which along with his salary and other benefits put him among the highest-paid presidents in the state university system. New College of Florida is the smallest Florida public university.
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In October 2022, Ben Sasse, the Republican U.S. senator from Nebraska, was selected as the sole finalist to become president of the University of Florida, despite objections from students and the community.
This was the first major university president selection since a new Florida law, SB 520, allowed universities to keep candidate searches secret and outside of the requirements of Florida's open meetings and public records laws.
It also came after more than a year of back and forth between the DeSantis administration and UF, including university leaders possibly being pressured into fast-tracking the hiring of Joseph Ladapo, the governor's pick for surgeon general, and a lawsuit over the university's decision to prevent UF political science professors from giving expert testimony against the state's new elections law because it would go against the governor.
Sasse was previously president of Midland University, a small, private Lutheran school in Fremont, Nebraska, for five years before being elected to the Senate and had been a faculty member at the University of Texas at Austin.
During his tenure he eliminated DEI employee positions at UF and announced the university would fund 19 new projects related to research, technology, AI and student life. UF received $130 million in new funding from the state.
Sasse unexpectedly resigned in July 2024, saying he had been diagnosed with epilepsy and wanted to spend more time with his wife Melissa, who suffered an aneurysm and series of strokes in 2007, and his children.
After he left office, stories emerged about his lavish spending on catering, staff and consulting contracts.
The Independent Florida Alligator reported that he "more than tripled his office's spending, directing millions in university funds into secretive consulting contracts and high-paying positions for his GOP allies." He also hired multiple staffers he knew from his time as a senator, only one of which lived in Florida, which cost the university $633,000, 20 times the previous president's annual average of $28,000, the Alligator said.
Sasse denied any inappropriate spending.
These are hardly the first politicians to head universities and colleges, of course.
Florida State University, for example, has had several politicians in charge, including the recently passed John Thrasher (Republican former senator and House speaker), the late T.K. Wetherell (Democrat representative and speaker) and the late Sandy D'Alemberte (Florida representative). University trustees say they need presidents who can raise funds, negotiate with state leaders, and deal with poltiical landmines.
But the recent moves come as DeSantis has been intentionally trying to steer the ship of Florida education in a conservative direction.
'The majority of the politically driven appointments are linked to the far right," said Marybeth Gasman, a professor and associate dean for Research at Rutgers University's Graduate School of Education. "These shifts have led to the rise of presidents who are also seen as aligned with specific political agendas, and this can impact everything from academic freedom to campus culture.'
Mary Lett, Pensacola News Journal; Alan Festo, Gainesville Sun; and Tarah Jean, Tallahassee Democrat; contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: DeSantis allies and staff fill top spots in Florida higher education