TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has appointed 5 new members to the board overseeing the College of West Florida in Pensacola, together with two folks affiliated with the conservative assume tank behind Challenge 2025.
The appointments to the general public college in Florida’s western panhandle come two years after DeSantis tapped six new board members to supervise New School of Florida, in what critics say was a hostile political takeover of the small progressive faculty.
The brand new appointees to UWF’s board embody Adam Kissel, a visiting fellow on greater training reform for The Heritage Basis, which proposed Challenge 2025 as a coverage blueprint for a hard-right flip in American authorities and society. Kissel served within the U.S. Division of Training below President Donald Trump.
DeSantis additionally appointed Scott Yenor, a political science professor at Boise State College who beforehand was a visiting fellow on American political thought at The Heritage Challenge.
The opposite nominees are Paul Bailey, an adjunct professor within the pre-law program at Pensacola Christian School; Gates Garcia, president of the non-public fairness agency Pinehill Capital Companions; and Chris Younger, founding father of the private damage legislation agency Perry & Younger.
The appointments are topic to affirmation by the Florida Senate, the place Republicans maintain a supermajority. In 2023, senators declined to verify considered one of DeSantis’ most controversial New School nominees, however accepted the others.
DeSantis constructed his nationwide profile by leveraging divisive insurance policies in Florida’s lecture rooms, banning instruction on sexual orientation and gender id, rooting out range packages and limiting what Florida colleges can train about racism.
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