DeSantis appoints conservative think tank members to university board
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$1 per week for 24 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.99/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/01/2025 (447 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has appointed five new members to the board overseeing the University of West Florida in Pensacola, including two people affiliated with the conservative think tank behind Project 2025.
The appointments to the public university in Florida’s western panhandle come two years after DeSantis tapped six new board members to oversee New College of Florida, in what critics say was a hostile political takeover of the small progressive school.
The new appointees to UWF’s board include Adam Kissel, a visiting fellow on higher education reform for The Heritage Foundation, which proposed Project 2025 as a policy blueprint for a hard-right turn in American government and society. Kissel served in the U.S. Department of Education under President Donald Trump.
DeSantis also appointed Scott Yenor, a political science professor at Boise State University who previously was a visiting fellow on American political thought at The Heritage Project.
The other nominees are Paul Bailey, an adjunct professor in the pre-law program at Pensacola Christian College; Gates Garcia, president of the private equity firm Pinehill Capital Partners; and Chris Young, founder of the personal injury law firm Perry & Young.
The appointments are subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate, where Republicans hold a supermajority. In 2023, senators declined to confirm one of DeSantis’ most controversial New College nominees, but approved the others.
DeSantis built his national profile by leveraging divisive policies in Florida’s classrooms, banning instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity, rooting out diversity programs and limiting what Florida schools can teach about racism.
___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.