United Florida Faculty says write lawmakers about UWF trustees

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From UNITED FLORIDA FACULTY: STOP THE EXTREMIST TAKEOVER OF UWF: ASK SENATORS to vote “NO TO YENOR AND KISSEL”

Right now, Governor DeSantis is trying to stack the University of West Florida’s Board of Trustees with extremists that do not support the public education system that we all hold dear. Specifically, he has appointed two members that are incredibly problematic. The first, and now Chair of UWF BOT, is Scott Yenor–a man who has publicly stated that women should focus on raising children rather than pursuing higher education.

In a 2021 speech, Yenor said, “Every effort must be made not to recruit women into engineering, but rather to recruit and demand more of men who become engineers. Ditto for med school and the law and every trade.”

Along with Heritage Foundation fellow Adam Kissel, Yenor seems to desire an education system that is focussed on the development of men, specifically calling out women and veterans in our public education system. Furthermore, these men are not members of our community and don’t understand the realities of Florida’s students. Yenor hails from Boise State University in Idaho.

Kissel is from West Virginia and just last year wrote that “One solution in these circumstances is to stop funding public colleges in the first place, which means to stop having them, and instead, to privatize them.”

That’s right. He’d like to take all public funding away from UWF and see it privatized. He has also claimed that the GI Bill was the beginning of the downfall of higher education. For a school that has consistently ranked as a top institution for military and veterans, this is incredibly disturbing. We can only imagine how high tuition would soar.

Our state universities are meant to serve all Florida students, including women and veterans. An affordable, publicly-funded system of higher education is essential for the future of our state. Extreme political agendas and blatant, corporate greed have no place here.

UFF has set up an online system for sending a form later to lawmakers – here.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

The Governor can appoint Board of Trustees members, but they must have confirmation from the Florida Senate. Press “SUBMIT” to send a letter to your state senators. Tell them that these appointees are not the kind of people we want meddling with Florida’s public universities and colleges. Our students deserve better. Florida deserves better. UWF deserves trustees that have ties to their local community, trustees who understand how important UWF is to our community and what the value of higher education is for all Floridians.

Our senator, Don Gaetz, chairs the Senate Ethics & Elections Committee that approves Yenor and Kissel. He has told me that he has concerns about the appointments. Emails give Sen. Gaetz ammunition when he questions the appointees. You can use the UFF form letter or draft your own message. Mail it to gaetz.don.web@flsenate.gov.

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United Florida Faculty says write lawmakers about UWF trustees

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