The University of West Florida (UWF) may soon lurch rightward, following new appointments by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
DeSantis just named five new members to the school’s Board of Trustees. All are conservatives. Several have drawn attention for their political views or activities. A couple donated to DeSantis’ 2022 campaign for Governor.
Two of them, Adam Kissel and Scott Yenor, live outside of Florida and have associations with The Heritage Foundation, whose Project 2025 vision for President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration attracted national headlines and ample consternation among progressives.
Yenor now works with the Claremont Institute, a California-based think tank described by The New York Times as “a nerve center of the American Right.”
The other appointees include lawyers Paul Bailey and Chris Young and investor Gates Garcia.
Kissel, a West Virginia resident, is a visiting fellow on higher education reform for the Heritage Foundation, a senior fellow for the Cardinal Institute for West Virginia Policy and a visiting scholar for the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
He previously worked for five years on higher education matters for the Charles Koch Foundation and as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Higher Education Programs at the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) for a year and four months under Trump.
Kissel has filed numerous discrimination complaints over the years with the USDOE over university policies. One such complaint about unequal treatment of non-Black students at Stanford University was dismissed in March 2023. Another proved more fruitful a year later, when a University of Minnesota Law School fellowship agreed to no longer give preferential treatment to minorities after Kissel challenged the matter six months earlier.
State records show Kissel gave DeSantis’ gubernatorial campaign $150 in November 2022.
Kissel said on X Monday, “It will be an honor to serve UWF.”
Yenor is the Chair of The Ambrose School, a private K-12 institution in Idaho that follows the classical Christian education curriculum. He also works as political science professor at Boise State University, is an honored visiting graduate faculty member at Ashland University and a Washington fellow at the Claremont Institute’s Center for the American Way of Life.
A press note from DeSantis’ Office said Yenor’s research “focuses on feminism, sexual liberation, and on dismantling the rule of social justice in America’s universities.”
Previously, he was a visiting fellow on American political thought for The Heritage Foundation and a fellow for the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.
An outspoken opponent of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, Yenor said on X after his appointment was announced, “No one has done higher education reform better than (Gov. Ron DeSantis, and) I am honored to take his vision to (UWF).”
Bailey is a lawyer for the Welton Law Firm. He also works as an adjunct professor at Pensacola Christian College and is a registered instructor with the National Rifle Association.
His Welton bio says that before joining the firm, Bailey clerked for retired Chief Judge Frank Shepherd of the 3rd District Court of Appeal.
Garcia is President and CEO at Pinehill Capital Partners, a family-owned equity investment firm headquartered in Tampa. He is also a Board of Visitors member of the Catholic University of America Busch School of Business, his alma mater.
He was named the 2024 Richar and Jacqueline Lincoln Fellow for the Claremont Institute.
Last month, Garcia said in an interview with The Blaze that after the 2024 election, American conservatives are “in the first inning of an absolute takeover of the media.”
“The Right is taking over that institution,” he said. “It’s been happening for a while.”
State records show Garcia made one state-level donation, a $30 check to DeSantis’ last campaign for Governor.
Young is a founder and senior partner at Perry & Young Law Firm, COO for Adcock Bros Inc. and the owner-President of Adcock Transport and Adcock Direct.
His community involvements include services with the Chipola Appreciation Club, Big Brothers Big Sisters and the ARC of the Bay. He is also a member of the Ascension Bay Medical Center Foundation Board of Directors.
UWF in Pensacola is a public research institution with about 15,000 students, a third of whom are pursuing postgraduate studies. Tuition is about $8,000 annually.
Two of the school’s six stated values are equity and diversity. A document outlining UWF’s strategic initiatives for the 2022-27 period prioritizes a “culture of inclusion & civility” whose listed indicators of success include an “annual diversity report” and tally of internationally enrolled students.
DeSantis’ realignment of UWF comes exactly two years after DeSantis appointed conservative activist Christopher Rufo and six others to the New College Board of Trustees. The Governor’s Office described the move then as an effort to eliminate “political ideology” from public higher education and return it to a “classical college” model.
“Starting today, the ship is turning around,” DeSantis’ Communications Director, Bryan Griffin, said at the time.
DeSantis also reappointed two of the New College Board members, Joseph Jacquot and Charles Kesler, on Monday.
Last year, Florida created a new specialized teacher certification for classical schools, allowing educators at those institutions to eschew some traditional credentialing standards. The year prior, DeSantis signed a bill banning DEI in public colleges, and Florida became the first state to require its colleges and universities to accept the Classic Learning Test for admissions in addition to the more commonly used SAT and ACT exams.
DeSantis has made clear that he believes overhauling the Sunshine State’s university system has benefits beyond general education.
“Really, the only places we haven’t really outpaced (Democrats) are the places that have universities in them. Orange (County, home of) UCF; Gainesville, (the home of the University of Florida; and) Tallahassee, (the home of Florida State University),” he said in July at the Republican National Convention. “But I will tell you no one is doing more on reforming universities than we are.”
The post Gov. DeSantis names conservative think tank members to University of West Florida Board appeared first on Florida Politics – Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government..