Governor Ron DeSantis is speaking out against a bill that would limit his power to help pick or remove presidents at Florida’s public universities and colleges.
House Bill 1321 was co-introduced by Republican State Representative Michelle Salzman and Democratic State Representative Anna Eskamani. It has a companion bill in the Senate.
The bill would make searches for university and college presidents public again at Florida’s public institutions of higher learning.
It would also stop the Board of Governors from making final hiring or firing decisions, placing this power back in the hands of university search committees and boards of trustees.
DeSantis expressed his concerns with these proposed changes as they would apply to him and his office at a press conference Thursday in Miami.
“They actually have a provision that says the governor and his staff are not allowed to discuss any vacancies of university presidents, and so what, they can hire some flamboyant liberal president, and we're just supposed to sit and take it as Floridians,” said DeSantis.
Watch the governor's press conference from Miami:
Governor DeSantis Addresses the Condo Crisis Affecting Floridians https://t.co/erPqUZipje
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) April 10, 2025
The move comes months after the governor recommended former Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nuñez in her bid to become president of FIU, which DeSantis called “a fantastic selection.” The governor has also admitted that previously he recommended and tried to help Congressman Randy Fine get the job as president at FAU.
DeSantis said without his oversight, universities and colleges could “restore woke” on Florida college campuses.
“They [Florida voters] don't want Columbia University and what goes on there to go on in the state of Florida, and so we've taken that to heart for many, many years. We said we are not going to allow these universities to be hijacked by woke ideology,” said DeSantis.
Several important Florida presidencies will be up for grabs soon, including in Central Florida, as University of Central Florida President Alexander Cartwright’s current contract is up in 2026.
Supporters of the bill have warned that without this system of checks and balances in place, the governor could use leadership positions at universities and colleges to fulfill and enforce his mandates and reforms on higher education.
The bill is up for a full vote in the Florida House next, and its companion in the Florida Senate, Senate Bill 1726, introduced by Republican State Senator Alexis Calatayud, breezed through its second committee Thursday, on its way to its last committee.
Democratic State Senator Carlos Guillermo Smith spoke in favor of Calatayud’s bill, saying it depoliticizes the presidential selection process, “by narrowing this down for the Board of Trustees members to only Florida residents or people who are graduates from a Florida College system or state university institution,” he said. “These Florida institutions are going to be led by Floridians or folks that are the product of Florida's higher education system, which is the best in the nation, and that's really a good thing.”
Read the full House bill here:
