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UF presidential search neither ‘failed’ … nor over

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In 2012, I was on the Board of Trustees at the University of Florida. Then-President Dr. Bernie Machen had announced his retirement, and we were in the midst of a search for a new president. The search committee had narrowed the pool of candidates to three people, and I was asked, as a Trustee, to fly to Washington, D.C., to meet with the candidates.

The request seemed odd because my understanding of the process was that we were to have a Trustee meeting to interview the three candidates and then select a new president.

Upon arriving in Washington, I was relegated to a hotel room, where one by one, each candidate came in, and we met. After meeting with each of the three candidates, I was asked by the search consultant which of the three I liked most. I shared my opinion, but said I looked forward to seeing how they perform in an open interview.

I was then informed by the search consultant who the new president would be, and it was not the candidate I had preferred.

I was then informed that we would have a meeting of the Trustees, where we would select the new president, whom the search firm apparently already knew would be chosen by my colleagues and me. There would then be a reception to celebrate the new president.

Setting aside my concerns about the myriad ways this entire episode violated the spirit of the sunshine law, this felt like a complete abdication of my fiduciary duty to do my own diligence on the candidates. I was not a potted plant or a rubber stamp. Gov. Rick Scott appointed me to use my judgment and to do what was best for the University of Florida, and NOT what I was told to do by nameless people in so-called leadership of the Board who were making the decisions for me.

I was disgusted. I flew directly to Tallahassee and met with Scott and his Chief of Staff. I told them the University of Florida and the State of Florida were about to have someone shoved down our collective throats who was hand-picked by a few people, and then rubber-stamped by a Board appointed, in part, by Scott.

Governor Scott met with the candidate who had been hand-picked. He was unconvinced this person was the right person to lead UF. Scott huddled with then-Board of Governors Vice-Chair, Mori Hosseini, and Machen. The result? The UF Board of Trustees chose a different path, and through that discussion, the idea of Preeminence was born. Machen agreed to stay another year to help Hosseini work with the Legislature and Governor to create Preeminence, a brilliant idea that brought more resources to our state’s preeminent universities. The University of Florida benefited enormously from this decision.

What was the other result of this intervention? The University of Florida moved away from the hand-picked candidate, went through an appropriate process, and hired a man named Dr. Kent Fuchs. By then, I had been appointed to the Board of Governors, and I had the privilege of interviewing and enthusiastically voting for Fuchs. What stood out in that interview was that, at that time, UF was hoping to be a top 10 university, but Fuchs proclaimed he would get UF to the top 5. He was off script when he said that, and maybe for a moment, he caught himself off guard. But he did it. With the help and support of a dedicated faculty, student body, Board of Trustees, Legislature, Governors, and Board of Governors, he did exactly what he promised he’d do.

A university presidential search is not concluded until the Board of Governors confirms a candidate. Thus, the search for a new president for UF is neither “failed” nor over. This action by the Board of Governors was an important independent assessment of a candidate. Each member of the Board of Governors drew their own conclusions and made their own decisions. I am proud to serve with each of them, regardless of whether their vote was different than mine.

The history of the previous so-called “failed search” that brought us Fuchs should be instructive to us. While it is perhaps true that some are angry by the decision the Board of Governors made in this case, it is also true that many are not. The decision by the Board of Governors to perform its constitutional responsibility, and that the majority did not agree with the nomination presented by the Board of Trustees of UF, is neither an indictment of the Board of Trustees nor an “embarrassment”, as some have said.

It was the result of a transparent, public meeting where dedicated public servants who had done their independent diligence simply had a difference of opinion with the Board of Trustees.

Speaking for myself, I believe the UF Board of Trustees is composed of highly successful, dedicated people who love UF. So, I have faith they will find the candidate we can all enthusiastically embrace. Isn’t that what we all want to be able to do?

I was a student when President Marshall Criser led the University of Florida into the prestigious Association of American Universities (AAU), making UF the first southern public university to achieve this distinction.

I was Student Body Treasurer when Dr. Bob Bryan led UF through challenges, and who recruited a man named Steve Spurrier to the University.

I was on the Board of Trustees of UF when Preeminence was born after we halted a troubled search.

And I was on the Board of Governors when Chair Hosseini led us to challenge our universities to perform better. I have had a front-row seat to witness the type of leadership it takes to be successful at UF. In the history of people like Stephen C O’Connell, Criser, Bryan, John Lombardi, Machen and Fuchs as some examples of our presidents, each of whom stood on the shoulders of those who preceded them, we see leadership of academics and non-academics who contributed to where the University is today.

I believe these people are the caliber of leader I’d be enthusiastic about voting for. And I’ve seen how strong, independent governance has provided the proper oversight. The situation we are in right now is no exception.

Governance works, even when it feels uncomfortable.

Now is the time for us to lock arms and do what is best for the University of Florida. And I have no doubt that is what everyone intends.

___

Alan Levine serves as Vice-Chair of the State University System of Florida Board of Governors; he is also Chair, president and CEO of Ballard Health.


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Anti-Donald Trump immigration protest draws 4K people to downtown Jacksonville Saturday

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More than 4,000 people turned out to protest against the Immigration, Customs and Enforcement (ICE) agency and President Donald Trump Saturday outside the Duval County Courthouse in Jacksonville.

The event was organized by 5050-1, which means 50 protests in 50 states with one movement. The political activist organization estimated they organized more than 2,000 demonstrations Saturday across the nation with about two dozen in Florida alone as part of what the group called “No Kings Day.”

The crowd joined in chants led by speakers such as, “No Kings,” referring to their belief that Trump sees himself as a regal leader, a charge the White House has denied and insists he’s the president of a constitutional republic.

State Rep. Angie Nixon, a Jacksonville Democrat, was the keynote speaker at the Duval County event that lasted more than two hours in the sweltering heat.

“I consider my self to be the biggest pain in (Gov.) Ron DeSantis’s ass,” Nixon said as the crowd erupted into cheers. “I also consider myself to be the biggest pain in Donald Trump’s ass.”

Nixon quickly transitioned into a cheerleader more so than a political official and quickly shouted “There ain’t no kings,” to which the crowd repeated in unison while she was also leading chants of “It’s right to rebel, Donald Trump go to hell.”

She went on to urge those in the crowd to become consistent voters and change the leadership in American government in the 2026 midterm elections by motivating other residents to vote against the Trump agenda and candidates who favor the President’s approach.

It was clearly the largest political demonstration in Jacksonville in five years to the month when a four-week series of protests over the George Floyd killing by police in 2020 drew thousands to different sites downtown each weekend. The crowd at Saturday’s demonstration was raucous as speaker after speaker railed against the Trump administration and its immigration policies and many said they were kindred spirits with protesters in Los Angeles who clashed with police, the California National Guard and even U.S. Marines in the past week over immigration policies.

Maria Garcia, an organizer with the Jacksonville Immigrant Rights Alliance, was also one of more than a dozen speakers and turned her attention to local Jacksonville City Council Member Rory Diamond who introduced a successful City Council measure this month that would block any programs from using city funds to pay for supporting immigration services. It passed Tuesday, but the Mayor has not signed it yet.

Garcia said the Republican Diamond is a “racist.”

Another City Council Member, Jimmy Peluso, was among the crowd during the protest and often joined in the cheers and chants. He said he was impressed with the turnout, but he derided the claim that some of his colleagues on the council were racist, particularly Diamond.

“What I’m behind is our First Amendment rights,” Peluso, a Democrat, said. “I’m not going to say my colleagues are racist. My interactions with them show me different.”

The participants in the crowd were not unanimously anti-Trump. Amelia Hughes was standing near the speaker’s platform and said she came from Waycross, Geogia to attend the protest she sees as misguided.

“In my heart I need to be here to speak out for those who can’t speak,” Hughes said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much hate for one person (Trump).”

A small airplane circled the protest site briefly with a banner behind it that said, “Duval for Trump.”

The protest site was directly in front of the courthouse on Adams Street Downtown, and the scene was more sedate than in some other cities.

Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office police kept their distance for the most part with department vehicles blocking road traffic at key intersections establishing a several-block perimeter surrounding the event. About a dozen sheriff’s officers riding patrol bicycles routinely passed through the area to monitor the demonstration, but there was no notable interaction.


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Florida law fixes issues with local zoning, processing biomass

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Agriculture interests are harvesting two victories this weekend as the Legislative Session comes to an end.

HB 211, signed Friday by Gov. Ron DeSantis, holds that “farm product” “means plants and plant products any plant, as defined in s. 581.011, regardless of whether such plants and plant products are edible or nonedible, or any animal useful to humans and includes, but is not limited to, any product derived therefrom.”

Various byproducts are possible under this language. The law refers to “a farm product, as defined in s. 163.3162,  or any biomass material that could be used, directly or indirectly, for the production of fuel, renewable energy, bioenergy, or alternative fuel as defined by law.”

The law also protects on-site facilities for processing biomass and other “existing activities essential to the operation of such facility or facilities are located or conducted, but those must be “located within, or within 10 miles of, a rural area of opportunity.”

Additionally, the bill preempts local regulations that may harm farmers’ interest, barring them from trying to adopt or enforce any “ordinance, resolution, regulation, rule, or policy to prohibit, restrict, regulate, or otherwise limit an activity of a bona fide farm operation, including, but not limited to, the collection, storage, processing, and distribution of a farm product” in areas of the state proximate to an opportunity zone.


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Governor signs off on funds for local authorities to pay for private DNA tests

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This could help investigations.

Established laboratories will have a road to state funding via local police departments and sheriffs’ offices under certain circumstances.

Gov. Ron DeSantis approved HB 847, which establishes the Expedited DNA Testing Grant Program within the Department of Law Enforcement, allowing local law enforcement to use private labs that have been around for five years if they meet Federal Bureau of Investigation Quality Assurance Standards.

The funds will be allocated annually under the grant program.

Some conditions apply for use of this money.

These include whether the test can be done at a governmental lab, and whether there is a perceived need to go the private route to expedite an investigation.

Grant recipients must meet an annual reporting requirement.

They will have to track how much money the agencies got, how many cases were run, the time to turnaround results, the final dispensation of the lab tests, and what types of testing were used.


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