As FAU presidential search nears end, here’s why political clout could figure in

Florida colleges and universities appear to have a new preferred qualification in their search for a president: experience as a Republican politician.

By Monday, three major educational institutions in South Florida may have welcomed a high-profile Republican as their new president.

Florida Atlantic University will decide whether to choose former House Majority Leader Adam Hasner from among the three finalists for its new president. Two other finalists also will be interviewed.

Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez is expected be hired on Friday as Florida International University’s interim president, according to media reports.

Already hired is Torey Alston, a former Gov. Ron DeSantis appointee to the Broward County Commission and School Board. He was chosen on Jan. 31 as the next president of Broward College.

Four former Republican state legislators were hired to lead Florida state colleges in the past two years. One former Republican U.S. senator, Ben Sasse, was hired as the University of Florida’s president in 2022, although he has since resigned.

Some say colleges and universities benefit by hiring political leaders who have a strong background in fundraising as well as ties to lawmakers in Tallahassee, who control how much of the funding the schools get. Others argue that higher education in Florida will suffer as DeSantis-controlled boards of trustees choose political cronies over better-qualified but less politically connected candidates.

“It’s very alarming. I don’t understand why politics has so much to do with education,” said State Sen. Tina Polsky, D-Boca Raton. “There shouldn’t be a political litmus test for board members or for presidents, and that’s what it entirely has become.”

The trend also alarms many students and faculty members.

“When leadership is determined by political loyalty rather than academic merit, it threatens academic freedom, faculty governance, and the long-term reputation of Florida’s higher education system,” says a statement from United Faculty of Florida, a statewide faculty union.

The move toward the politically connected president gained steam in 2023, as DeSantis vowed to try to remove what he saw as “woke indoctrination” and left-wing ideology from campuses. One of his first major moves was to replace many trustees at New College of Florida in Sarasota, which had been a traditional left-leaning liberal arts college. The board fired the president and replaced her with DeSantis ally Richard Corcoran, a former House speaker and education commissioner.

“Conservative lawmakers saw many professors advocating for political positions and universities pushing for diversity,” said Sean Foreman, a political science professor at Barry University.  “They thought colleges and universities should be focused on the basics, educating students and preparing them for the workforce.”

It’s not an entirely new phenomenon for Florida schools to hire politicians as their presidents. Betty Castor, a former Democratic state senator, served as president of the University of South Florida in Tampa in the 1990s. Former Republican Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan led FAU from 2003 to 2009, while former Republican House speaker John Thrasher led Florida State University from 2014 to 2021.

But most presidents during those years had a more traditional academic background.

“If we continue down this road, it would be the exception, to have an academic leader as the president of one of Florida’s higher education institutions, rather than the rule,” said Aubrey Jewett, an associate professor of political science at the University of Central Florida. “It’s always been the other way in the past.”

At FAU, the Board of Trustees will decide Monday between Hasner, an executive vice president for a prison company who spent eight years as a state legislator, and two candidates with more traditional academic backgrounds. Michael Hartline is a business dean at Florida State University and a finalist from the previous search, while John Volin is an executive vice president and provost at the University of Maine.

Many political and university insiders have told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that Hasner is the favorite for the job.

“It’s already baked in that Adam Hasner is going to get FAU job, and there are two very qualified applicants who have tremendous academic experience, and yet we already know the outcome,” Polsky said. “From everything I’ve heard, it’s a done deal.”

Hasner, who will meet with the FAU community in a series of town halls Friday, declined an interview request by the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He sent a statement explaining why he believes his background makes him an ideal candidate for the job.

“While my resume may not reflect the typical career in academia, I believe this is an asset in today’s evolving landscape of university leadership,” the statement said. “The role of the modern public university president demands a unique skill set to be successful —serving as the university’s chief advocate in Tallahassee, being the university’s top fundraiser, and acting as the leading brand ambassador both regionally and beyond.”

One of the FAU presidential finalists, Hartline, couldn’t be reached for comment.

Volin, another finalist, told the Sun Sentinel the current climate concerning university president selections across Florida often being tethered to political motivations doesn’t worry him in his pursuit of the FAU presidency. He said he doesn’t have control over the process.

“I’m bringing my years of experience, and so I can only speak for myself,” he said. “There’s a lot of great examples of folks out there. They have a political past.”

He said that’s not a problem for a university “as long as they really understand higher education and where it’s heading because the next 10 years are critical for higher education.”

Susan MacManus, a retired political science professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa, said she recalls being asked in the 1990s why Castor was being hired to lead her university instead of an academic.

“I pointed out at the time, and it’s the same today: It’s funding,” she said. “The bottom line is today’s university presidents are first and foremost fundraisers. It’s really shifted since I was an early professor way back when. It was totally academic, but today’s it’s about the money.”

At Broward College, Alston’s potential to use his political connections to secure money was a key reason he was hired, Alexis Yarbrough, chair of the college’s Board of Trustees, told the Sun Sentinel.

In addition to his political appointments, Alston has served as the executive director of a Greater Miami Expressway Agency, reporting to a board made up of DeSantis appointees. He also served as chief of staff for the Florida Department of Transportation.

“To the extent that Mr. Alston has experience with the legislative process, that was absolutely critical to our decision-making,” Yarbrough said.