Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to remake the state’s #3 university, the University of West Florida, to fit his political agenda—further proving that politics trump performance in his administration.
Yesterday, DeSantis appointed Edward Fleming and reappointed Adam Kissel to the University of West Florida Board of Trustees. Fleming is the founding partner of McDonald Fleming Attorneys At Law, who currently serves on the Pensacola State College District Board of Trustees and earned a law degree from the University of Georgia. Fleming joins Zach Smith as the second trustee serving on the boards of PSC and UWF.
Kissel is a Visiting Fellow on Higher Education Reform for The Heritage Foundation who also serves as Chair of the West Virginia Professional Charter School Board and earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a master’s degree from the University of Chicago. The Florida Senate rejected his previous nomination to the board. He will be allowed to serve until the Florida Senate rejects him during the 2026 Session.
Opposition to Kissel
During the Senate Committee on Ethics and Elections confirmation hearing on Kissel, tTwo former University of West Florida leaders expressed strong concerns about Kissel.
Suzanne Lewis, who served 14 years as a trustee, including four years as board chair, questioned whether Kissel could properly learn about “the community, the commitment, the faculty, the staff” to effectively serve.
She emphasized the board takes over 100 actions annually affecting academic programs, accreditation, and budgets, stressing these decisions should be “not ideologically based, but what is best for the broader community.”
Dr. Judith Bense, UWF President Emeritus, focused on the issue of trust. She expressed that the UWF community struggles to trust Kissel regarding funding and university operations. Unlike previous trustees who “worked their way up through the system,” Bense noted Kissel lacks institutional knowledge.
Bense pointed out the university community had been told to “buckle up” for changes, suggesting an “ideological conservative position is being imposed” on the institution. She concluded that Kissel “is not a good fit and should not be a University of West Florida trustee.”
PSC Minutes
The board’s March minutes for PSC show Fleming supported Smith’s call to deny a teacher’s sabbatical leave request because Smith expressed “particular concern that one might run afoul of relevant regulations and laws because of prohibited Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) content.”
- Smith made a motion asking Dr. Meadows and his staff to gather information regarding the college’s sabbatical policies and practices so that the Board can engage in a larger evaluation of those policies and practices. Mr. Fleming seconded, and the motion passed unanimously Board voted for the college to re-evaluate its policies around faculty sabbaticals.
In April, Fleming brought up the leave again:
Mr. Fleming explained that the applicant’s goals and interest in using education to pull individuals out of poverty is laudable and inquired if there is a cost-effective way for the applicant to still conduct this research via a different avenue. Dr. Meadows then asked the Board if any member would have an objection to the applicant pursuing the proposed work in another capacity. Chair Sprague explained that the applicant could complete the proposed work in another capacity so long as it does not go through an administrative process, to which the rest of the Board agreed. Mr. Smith noted his appreciation of Mr. Fleming’s comments as well as the application’s overall goal.
Fleming missed the May meeting