DeSantis ensures UWF Board of Trustees takes a hard right turn

Today. Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed five new members to the University of West Florida Board of Trustees, none of which are UWF alumni or live in the Pensacola area. This could spell trouble for UWF President Martha Saunders. My bet is she will weather the storm.

The five include:

• • NRA registered instructor
  • the Catholic University of America football team captain
  • Visiting Fellow on Higher Education Reform for The Heritage Foundatio
  • Has referred to career-oriented women as “medicated, meddlesome and quarrelsome”
  • Valedictorian from Grand Ridge High School

WHY THIS MATTERS: The UWF Board of Trustees is the 13-member governing body for the institution. The Governor of Florida appoints six of the members, who serve five-year terms and the Board of Governors appoints five of the members who serve five-year terms. All of these must be approved by the Senate. The president of the Faculty Senate holds one of those places. The final member is the president of the Student Government Association.

These appointments are subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate.

BIOS

Paul Bailey
Bailey is an Attorney for Welton Law Firm. Active in his community, he currently serves as an Adjunct Professor at Pensacola Christian College and is a Registered Instructor with the National Rifle Association. Bailey earned his bachelor’s degree in pre-law from Pensacola Christian College and his juris doctor from Regent University.

Law Firm Profile: Paul Bailey graduated Pensacola Christian College with his Bachelors of Science in Pre-Law and continued on to Regent University where he earned his Juris Doctorate of Law. He gained experience in the legal field through various endeavors, including but not limited to clerking for Chief Judge Shepherd of the Third District Court of Appeals and interning with the American Center for Law and Justice. He and his wife Jaime were married in 2014 and have two sons. As a registered instructor with the National Rifle Association, he enjoys exercising his Second Amendment rights and encouraging others to do the same. He also teaches as an adjunct professor at Pensacola Christian College. He joined Welton Law Firm in 2015 and has since handled hundreds of cases with integrity and professionalism.

Gates Garcia
Garcia is the President and Chief Executive Officer at Pinehill Capital Partners. Active in his community, he currently serves on The Catholic University of America Busch School of Business Board of Visitors and was the recipient of the 2024 Richard and Jacqueline Lincoln Fellow for The Claremont Institute. Garcia earned his bachelor’s degree in media studies from The Catholic University of America and his master’s degree in business administration from the University of Florida.

Pine Capital Partners profile: Gates manages the overall operations of his family-office with a primary focus on his family’s investments. In addition, he serves as a Director for the Garcia Family Foundation. He presents and participates on panels nationally on topics related to managing a family-office.

Prior to joining his family in business, he spent his career at Raymond James Financial where he served as a Vice President.

Gates serves on the board for The Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America in addition to other board and leadership positions in organizations involved in private equity, philanthropy, education, and public policy.

Gates is a Claremont Institute Lincoln Fellow. He earned his Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA) designation from the Investment Management Consultant Association at the Wharton School of Business, the University of Pennsylvania. Gates also earned his Certified Private Wealth Advisor (CPWA) designation from the Investments and Wealth Institute at the Booth School of Business, the University of Chicago. He is a member of the Investments & Wealth Institute.

Gates graduated from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he captained the football team. He holds an MBA degree from the University of Florida.
He is happily married to his college sweetheart. They live in Tampa, Florida and have three young children. Gates and his wife strive to lead a life guided by their Catholic faith and they are actively involved in their church. When he is not consumed by his favorite activity—time with his family—he enjoys reading and exercising.

Adam Kissel
Kissel is a Visiting Fellow on Higher Education Reform for The Heritage Foundation, a Senior Fellow for the Cardinal Institute for West Virginia Policy, and a Visiting Scholar for the Texas Public Policy Foundation. He previously served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Higher Education Programs with the United States Department of Education. Active in his community, he currently serves as the Chair of the West Virginia Professional Charter School Board and is a member of the Civics, History, & America’s Future Advisory Council for America250. Kissel earned his bachelor’s degree in English, American literature, and language from Harvard University and his master’s degree from the University of Chicago.

West Virginia Professional Charter School Board profile: Adam Kissel is the chairman of the West Virginia Professional Charter School Board. He is also a board member of The Philadelphia Society and Visiting Fellow for Higher Education Reform at The Heritage Foundation. Adam has supported higher education through teaching, writing, research, philanthropy, government service, and defense of academic freedom and individual rights for professors and students. He supported civic literacy with the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, fundamental rights at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, and philanthropy at the Charles Koch Foundation and The Philanthropy Roundtable.

Scott Yenor, Ph.D.
Yenor is the Chairman of The Ambrose School Board, a Professor of Political Science at Boise State University, an Honored Visiting Graduate Faculty at Ashland University, and a Washington Fellow at The Claremont Institute’s Center for the American Way of Life. His research focuses on feminism, sexual liberation, and on dismantling the rule of social justice in America’s universities. He previously served as a Visiting Fellow on American Political Thought for The Heritage Foundation and a Fellow for the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Yenor earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and his doctorate degree in political science from Loyola University.

Wikipedia: Scott Yenor (born 1970) is an American political activist and university professor. He is a member of the men-only Christian nationalist organization Society for American Civic Renewal and works for the Claremont Institute’s Center for the American Way of Life. He wrote the 2011 book Family Politics: The Idea of Marriage in Modern Political Thought and founded the far-right website Action Idaho in 2021. Read more.

Protests in 2021: CNN reported “Hundreds of protestors demonstrated at Boise State University in Idaho over the weekend following comments made at a conference by a professor who said men should be prioritized for fields of study such as engineering, medicine and law. BSU political science professor Scott Yenor made disparaging remarks about women and spoke critically of feminism at the National Conservatism Conference in Orlando, Florida, on October 31 in a speech titled “The Family Form that Nations Need. “Every effort made must be made not to recruit women into engineering, but rather to recruit and demand more of men who become engineers,” Yenor said. “Ditto for med school, and the law, and every trade.”

Chris Young
Young is a founder and Senior Partner at Perry & Young Law Firm, Chief Operating Officer for Adcock Bros, Inc. and is owner and President of Adcock Transport and Adcock Direct. Active in his community he has served the Chipola Appreciation Club, Big Brothers Big Sisters and the ARC of the Bay. He currently serves on the Ascension Bay Medical Center Foundation Board of Directors and is active in other local charities and civic groups. Young earned his associate degree from Chipola College and his Juris Doctor from Louisiana State University.

Law firm profile: Senior partner, Chris Young, was born and raised in Altha, Florida to a very loving and encouraging mother and father. He graduated as valedictorian from Grand Ridge High School in 1995 before completing his undergraduate studies at Chipola College. After seeing his father undergo a life-altering event that left him a paraplegic and permanently confined to a wheelchair, Chris decided to pursue a career that would enable him to give back and represent people and their families who have experienced similar life-altering events in their life.

Chris began his legal career in 1997 as a law clerk for an attorney in Marianna, Florida. While in law school, he worked as a law clerk with fellow Perry & Young founder, Larry Perry. In 2003, Chris received his Juris Doctorate from Louisiana State University – Paul M. Hebert Law Center and continued to devote himself to representing injured people and their families throughout Florida whose lives were altered due to a personal injury and wrongful death.

In 2008, Chris and fellow senior partner, Larry Perry, joined forces in establishing Perry & Young. Perry & Young has steadily grown into one of the largest personal injury law firms in the Florida Panhandle. Chris and his team of nine attorneys have obtained hundreds of hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements and judgments for their clients throughout the country. Chris is licensed to practice law in Florida and the Federal Court for the Northern District of Florida and has been admitted Pro Hac Vice in other state courts as well.

Contributing his professional experience and knowledge to associations devoted to excellence, Chris is a member of the American Bar Association, Florida Justice Association, and American Association for Justice. As a nationally recognized attorney in personal injury law, Chris has been presented with prestigious honors such as the Million Dollar Advocate Award and Top 100 Trial Lawyers.

Chris and his wife, Ashley, are involved in countless charities and programs that benefit the residents across the Florida panhandle including ARC of the Bay, Big Brothers Big Sisters & others. In 2021, Chris and Larry formed the Perry & Young Foundation Scholarship, awarding over $20,000 a year in scholarships to deserving students across the Florida Panhandle. They also highlight local athletes through the Scholar-Athlete of the Week Award. This recognition is bestowed to athletes with promising futures throughout the area. He is also involved with the Big Brothers and Sisters of Northwest Florida and the Chipola Appreciation Club.

Chris and Ashley are avid anglers and enjoy offshore fishing. Chances are if you follow them on Facebook or Instagram you will see many pictures of their offshore adventures aboard the Boss Lady. Chris and Ashley intensely follow LSU football and are avid car enthusiasts. Above all their civic contributions and hobbies, Chris and Ashley’s love for their Savior comes first as their main focus is assisting the numerous ministries at Hiland Park Baptist Church in Panama City, Florida.