Bell is supposed to go before the Florida Board of Governors this week for a confirmation vote.<\/p>\n
Brandon Bell\/Getty Images | DenisTangneyJr\/iStock\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
A power struggle between boards is threatening to upend the University of Florida\u2019s presidential search.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, the UF Board of Trustees voted unanimously<\/a> to hire Stuart Bell as president, despite an online campaign to tank his candidacy over concerns about his support of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts when he was president of the University of Alabama from 2015 to 2025. Trustees dismissed the criticism, and Bell vowed he wouldn\u2019t \u201cbring DEI or woke back.\u201d<\/p>\n His appointment seemed poised to move ahead despite concerns Florida U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, a Republican, raised last month about the search process, alleging it lacked transparency and public input. Scott also flagged the highly unusual agreement<\/a> UF Board of Trustees Chair Mori Hosseini struck with interim president Donald Landry, who will receive a $2\u00a0million payout if he doesn\u2019t get the permanent position. <\/p>\n Bell was supposed to go before the Florida Board of Governors for a final confirmation vote this week. But Alan Levine, the chair of that board, wrote in a letter to State University System of Florida Chancellor Ray Rodrigues that Bell will not be up for a vote at the two-day meeting. Levine\u2019s letter did not mention DEI but rather concerns about Hosseini\u2019s influence at UF.<\/p>\n In the letter, later posted online by conservative DEI critics<\/a>, Levine wrote that he had questions about the powers being delegated to Hosseini, who negotiated the lucrative exit package for Landry. Levine wrote that through a review of recent board practices, he learned that trustees had delegated significant authority to Hosseini, which he found to be problematic and \u201cinconsistent with best practices in governance and which again seem to run afoul\u201d of FLBOG regulations.<\/p>\n Levine said the board will not vote on UF matters while it is \u201cout of compliance\u201d with FLBOG regulations. But even as he took aim at Hosseini, Levine did not close the door on Bell.<\/p>\n \u201cI realize this may create some controversy, but that is not the intent,\u201d Levine wrote. \u201cDr. Bell deserves the opportunity to have his nomination considered on the merits, based upon his established track record and his presentation before the [Board of Governors]. To be clear, this action should not be construed by anyone to be a statement about Dr. Bell or his candidacy.\u201d<\/p>\n But as Levine thrust, the UF board parried.<\/p>\n Board Vice Chair Rahul Patel, who led the Presidential Search Advisory Committee, cast Levine\u2019s move to delay the vote on Bell as purely political, unfair and harmful to the University of Florida campus community.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s be clear. By Chairman Levine\u2019s own admission, this delay has nothing to do with Dr. Bell. A unanimously selected presidential candidate and the State of Florida\u2019s flagship university are being drawn into a dispute unrelated to his candidacy,\u201d Patel wrote in a message<\/a> posted by UF.<\/p>\n He framed Levine\u2019s actions as an overreach, writing that the delay \u201cis a consequential action that should be decided by the Board of Governors as a body, not by a single individual acting alone.\u201d<\/p>\n In light of the delay, Patel announced that UF has called a meeting to hire Bell as interim president \u201cso that the university can continue moving forward while this issue is addressed.\u201d Now a meeting to hire Bell in an interim capacity is set for Monday evening.<\/p>\n Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican and major Hosseini beneficiary, previously voiced support for Bell. But amid the recent controversy, the usually outspoken DeSantis has been conspicuously quiet. Last week, however, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier\u2019s office wrote in a letter to the Board of Governors<\/a> that the UF board was not out of compliance and that \u201cLevine\u2019s assertions are not a legally correct basis\u201d for delaying the scheduled confirmation vote.<\/p>\n Uthmeier also batted away criticism from Chris Rufo<\/a>, a conservative provocateur and former New College of Florida board member, who called for UF to halt the hiring process and for an investigation into Hosseini over \u201cpotential conflicts of interest related to his real estate holdings.\u201d<\/p>\n Uthmeier, a DeSantis appointee, has defended Hosseini.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can debate Stuart Bell\u2019s candidacy, but if you want to defame and smear a good man\u2019s name, you\u2019re going to have a real problem with me. Embarrassing that you\u2019d take these baseless allegations at face value,\u201d Uthmeier wrote to Rufo in a social media post<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n Many critics have noted that Uthmeier has his own sweetheart deal at UF, where he earns $100,000 a year<\/a> as an adjunct professor at the law school. (Scott also flagged that deal, raising concerns about \u201ca pattern of malfeasance in UF\u2019s hiring and contracting processes.\u201d)<\/p>\n Now, following the letter from Uthmeier\u2019s office, Levine is under pressure to move forward on Bell. However, the current FLBOG meeting agenda does not include a vote to confirm Bell.<\/p>\n If the Florida Board of Governors ultimately upends UF\u2019s presidential hire, it will be the second time in as many years that it has tanked such a search. Last year the board rejected hiring Santa Ono<\/a>, the former University of Michigan president, despite unanimous approval by UF trustees. Like Bell, Ono had sought to distance himself<\/a> from his past support of DEI. While Ono was ultimately unsuccessful, Bell\u2019s candidacy remains alive but embattled amid the power struggle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bell is supposed to go before the Florida Board of Governors this week for a confirmation vote. 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