Latest news with #UniversityOfWestFlorida
Washington Post
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Another DeSantis ally takes the helm of a public university in Florida
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Another former Republican lawmaker and ally of Gov. Ron DeSantis is officially taking the helm of one of Florida's public universities. Manny Diaz, who DeSantis previously appointed to be his state commissioner of education , started his first day on the job Monday as the interim president of the University of West Florida in Pensacola.
Associated Press
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Another DeSantis ally takes the helm of a public university in Florida
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Another former Republican lawmaker and ally of Gov. Ron DeSantis is officially taking the helm of one of Florida's public universities. Manny Diaz, who DeSantis previously appointed to be his state commissioner of education, started his first day on the job Monday as the interim president of the University of West Florida in Pensacola. Diaz is a former social studies teacher and assistant principal who as a state lawmaker became one of the key architects behind Florida's recent push to expand charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately run. He'll lead the school on an interim basis while university leaders conduct a job search, and is expected to pursue the permanent position. 'I am honored to step into this role and lead the University of West Florida into this next chapter. UWF has a proud legacy and a promising future, and I look forward to working alongside our students, faculty, staff and community partners to continue building on its momentum,' Diaz said in a statement. 'Together, we will advance and explore new opportunities to serve our region and state with excellence.' With Diaz's appointment, five of the state's 12 public universities will be led by former Republican lawmakers or lobbyists, a move that is expected to help extend DeSantis' legacy in higher education long after his time in office. Speaking at a press event Monday, DeSantis said the appointment of Diaz to lead UWF is similar to the pick of another former education commissioner to lead New College of Florida, a move meant to overhaul the liberal arts school known for its progressive independent streak and turn it into a more conservative classical institution. 'I think there's a lot of potential there,' DeSantis said of UWF. DeSantis' recent decision to appoint new, more conservative members to the school's board has sparked controversy. Supporters of the push to advance lawmakers above traditional academic leaders say it will grant the schools the political capital to secure critical state funding and navigate a rapidly shifting legal landscape. Critics see it as another sign that alignment with the governor's conservative education agenda has become a prerequisite for leading the state's public universities. Last month, the state university system board rejected a longtime academic as the next president of the University of Florida, amid sharp criticism from political conservatives about the candidate's past support for diversity, equity and inclusion programs. UF, considered one of the top public research universities in the country, is still looking for a permanent president. Leading a Florida university generally comes with a multiyear contract for a salary of at least six-figures and a plush on-campus residence. The process for picking these leaders happens largely behind closed doors, creating what the state's Republican House speaker has called 'a spoil system for a select few.' ___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
UWF archaeology uncover secrets of Molino and Luna settlement site
They dug Luna. Now, University of West Florida archaeology students are digging, very carefully, and investigating the nearly 300-year-old remnants of San Joseph de Escambe, a mission constructed in 1741 in present-day Molino near the Escambia River. The mission was built by the members of the Apalachee − indigenous people who inhabited parts of Northwest Florida and the Southeast. Ten years after its construction, Spanish cavalry soldiers and infantry, along with Spanish friars, joined the Apalachee at the mission and remained until spring1761 when it was burned during a raid by Creek Indians. UWF archaeology students, both undergraduate and graduate students, have spent nearly three-weeks excavating the heavily wooded site located on private land − UWF has the landowner's permission − not far from the Escambia River. The excavations and research are part of the UWF Archaeology summer field school, where students first spent three weeks excavating the De Luna settlement discovered in and around present-day East Pensacola Heights, just off shore of the two Emmanuel Point shipwrecks discovered in 1992 and 2006 that are linked to the settlement − the first European settlement in North America, predating both the Spanish settlement of St. Augustine and the European settlement at Jamestown. Pensacola's storied history, much longer than that of most North American cities, makes it a great location for archaeology and archaeology students, and is why UWF's archaeology programs, both maritime and terrestrial, have received numerous awards and distinctions through the years. "Pensacola is uniquely endowed with not just a rich record of prehistoric Native American occupation sites that tell us a lot about their lifestyles and how they changed over time and how they utilized the bay and the estuary, but also because we have some of the earliest European settlements,'' said John Worth, a UWF anthropology professor specializing in archaeology and ethnohistory. "We had this competition between the Spanish, French and the British and we have presidio sites and ports and so on, and they were interacting with Native Americans. It's one of the richest areas for archaeology in the whole southeast. It's an amazing area." Amazing, but not without its challenges. You've seen the Indiana Jones movies. There are always challenges. Even danger sometimes. Or at least a little pain. Worth was watching over as students delicately scraped thin slices of dirt and sand from a site in Molino where he and others thought a post or two might be located. (Thin slices for sure. Think of a cook removing an omelet from the skillet.) Suddenly, UWF archaeology student John Merts, one of the students with shovels, gasped and did a little dance step with the shovel as he shimmied in pain. A horsefly the size (and width) of a thumb had bitten through his tie-dye shirt into his skin. "That's a big horsefly,'' Worth said. There are other critters too. Students had made two fire pits to shoo the many mosquitoes away from the site of the mission, which is located in a field of sweet gum and water oak trees. He said the Apalachee probably did the same. "We've found these smudge pits where they would dig a hole in the ground, and they are stuffed with corn cobs,'' he said. "It was just the cobs, and they would let them smolder. Part of that was probably for mosquito control, but another reason is that they were buying deer skins, or you know, trading deer skins with the Creeks and they would dress them and tanning them would involve smoking them." Throughout the site, about a hectare, Worth said − that's 100 by 100 meters − students have dug up post sites, and small pits of pottery. Students with wheelbarrows would take the excavated dirt and sand to a water screen station near the dirt road that leads the mission, which Worth said at its height probably had about 30 occupants. While looking over one wheelbarrow's remains as it went through water, UWF student Jack Jacobson spotted something interesting. A little speck of a piece of, well, something. "I think it might be a piece of pottery,'' Jacobson said to Worth. "I think you're right,'' Worth said. The fragment was bagged, tagged and will make its way back to UWF's archaeology laboratory. "It's exciting to see something and you think you know what it might be and find out you are right,'' Jacobson said, before going back to search for more pieces. UWF instructors and students have been excavating and researching at the San Joseph de Escambe mission since 2009. Students and UWF archaeologists have also been working at the de Luna settlement near downtown Pensacola during the summers since its discovery in 2015. On the recent three-week research stint at the Pensacola site, students found a few interesting pieces. But what they didn't find was interesting as well, Worth said. "We found a few bits of Spanish material, but most of what we found was native pottery,'' he said. "But we were digging close to the bluff so it could be from the Luna period because the Spaniards brought back materials from food gathering expeditions, because the Native Americans also camped right in the same area just along the bluff. We found a piece of brigandine armor, a small blue glass bead and a couple of pieces of Spanish table wear. But we did not find a single Spanish nail, and they are usually all over, so they probably weren't building anything that close to the bluff." Student Max Stevens took a break from slicing thin layers of soil away from an excavation site and said "he has always been interested in history and I've always wanted to learn more about it." That's what prompted the Panama City native from entering UWF's archaeology program. "I wanted to see it with my own eyes,'' he said. "Not just read about it." For more information on UWF anthropology and archaeology, go to For more information on the research at both the Molino and Pensacola research sites, go to the Pensacola Colonial Frontiers Facebook page This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: UWF archaeology uncover secrets of Molino and Luna settlement site
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Board of Governors confirms Manny Diaz Jr. as interim University of West Florida president
The State University System's Board of Governors confirmed the appointment of Manny Diaz Jr., as interim president of the University of West Florida on Wednesday. Diaz will replace Martha Saunders, who announced her resignation May 12 following months of attacks on the university by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who appointed several controversial picks to the university's Board of Trustees and warned of a bumpy road ahead for the university. Saunders had served as UWF's president since January 2017. All board members but one − Eric Silagy − voted in favor of confirmation. Silagy voiced concerns about Diaz's compensation package, the lack of a performance component in that package as well as a university succession plan. Silagy is the immediate past chairman of the Board of Governors and is president and CEO of Florida Power and Light Co. He also asked UWF Board Chair Rebecca Matthews if she tried to talk Saunders out of retiring or if she encouraged her to stay on as UWF president in an interim capacity. "She's (Saunders) clearly engaged, she loves UWF. She wants to stay engaged. Did you ever look at whether or not keeping her on just as interim, while you went through a search process? She knows the school so well, and she had a contract in place. And it would have been very easy to have her bridge that gap," Silagy said. Matthews said she honored Saunders's resignation letter − knowing that she would be helpful during the transition. Diaz's name quickly floated to the top of the pool of potential replacements. In an 8-2 vote on May 27, the university's Board of Trustees chose Diaz to fill the position left open by Saunders' resignation. On June 12, the university's Board of Trustees approved a $744,000 compensation package for Diaz, which includes a base salary of $643,000, along with provisions for housing and a vehicle and relocation allowances. Under the terms of the contract, Diaz will serve as interim president from July 14, 2025, until July 13, 2026. The Board of Trustees is conducting a search for a permanent president, and the agreement notes Diaz's term could be extended in the event the search fails. It's also possible that Diaz will apply for the job permanently. If so, and if he's picked, the GOP former state lawmaker will follow other former Florida elected officials into state university and college presidencies, such as former House speaker Richard Corcoran now at New College of Florida and former Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez at Florida International University. Under Diaz's contract, his duties and powers are to "diligently devote his full professional time, ability, and attention to the day-to-day operations of UWF including, without limitation, all administrative, executive, and academic functions as required by this Agreement, law, rule, and regulation." A former state legislator from Hialeah in Miami-Dade County, Diaz served in the House from 2012 to 2018 and in the Senate from 2018 until 2022, when DeSantis recommended him as education commissioner and the Florida State Board of Education made it official. As education commissioner, Diaz oversees Florida's public education system, including 28 state colleges and nearly 3 million students across K–20 institutions, and manages a $27 billion annual education budget, according to his resume. Diaz will be University of West Florida's seventh president. This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Manny Diaz confirmed as University of West Florida president by BOG
Associated Press
04-06-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Top DeSantis aide named next Florida education commissioner
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida Board of Education has tapped a top aide of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to be the state's next education commissioner, a choice meant to influence K-12 and higher education policy in the state while bolstering a conservative legacy that could long outlast the governor's time in office. The board voted unanimously Wednesday to appoint Anastasios Kamoutsas, a deputy chief of staff to the governor. The job opened up after Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz, a former Republican state lawmaker, was named interim president of the University of West Florida. Kamoutsas' appointment is contingent on Diaz being named the permanent president of UWF. 'Student safety and achievement will be my top priorities,' Kamoutsas said. 'Parents will continue to be empowered. And teachers, you have my word that I stand in support of you.' Kamoutsas previously served as general counsel and chief staff at the state's Education Department, before moving to the governor's office. 'Stasi Kamoutsas has delivered on important issues like parental rights, school choice, and fighting back against radical ideologies in education,' DeSantis said in a statement. 'I am confident that he will continue to serve our state well as the next Commissioner of Education.' Kamoutsas is expected to help carry out DeSantis' conservative education agenda, from banning public funds for diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, to restricting how schools teach about race and history, and dramatically expanding the state's school voucher system, which provides billions in public funds for scholarships to private and religious schools. Among those who lauded Kamoutsas at Wednesday's meeting was former Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran, who has overseen what critics describe as the 'hostile takeover' of New College of Florida. He's among the slate of Republican former state lawmakers who are now helming state colleges and universities. 'Every single major decision, I don't care if it was elimination of DEI, critical race theory, opening schools, demasking students, changing higher education, Stasi has been in that room, every single time,' Corcoran said. 'And not just as a participant. He's been in the room as a leader.' ___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
