In viewpoint published by the News Journal, Pensacola business leader Julian MacQueen calls out the four new trustees who believes have altered the college’s successful 77-year trajectory.
- “I expect that MJ Menge is rolling over in his grave to see this deeply committed institution, separating itself from 35% of our population and 39.1% of the student body of minority members, and 63% of the female population at PSC, and interrupting the last 13 years of progress ushered in by President Meadows.”
Background: On Feb. 14, Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Dr. Joel Rudman, Ed Fleming, Andy Hobbs and Zack Smith to the PSC District Board of Trustees. Rudman resigned before he face a Senate hearing on his appointment. They joined Dr. Troy Tippett and Gordon Sprague.
- Rudman, Fleming, Hobbs and Smith replaced Carol Carlan, Patrick Dawson, Margie Moore and Julie Sheppard. DeSantis’s appointments made the board all white and all male.
MacQueen, a former PSC trustee, founded the Equity Project Alliance (EPA) in 2020 to address systemic racism in Pensacola through facilitated conversations between Black and White communities.
Dig Deeper: Nearly 200 residents came together for the Equity Project Alliance’s 2025 Data Walk, held at Greater Little Rock Baptist Church. The event united community members from all walks of life to examine local data, spark meaningful dialogue, and explore solutions to pressing challenges.
A featured panel, including Dr. Mary Metha (Nemours Children’s Health), Connie Bookman (Pathways for Change and the Homeless Reduction Task Force), and Ruthie Noel (Achieve Escambia), brought their insight into vital issues such as healthcare access, school readiness, housing affordability, and homelessness.
During dinner, local leaders facilitated table discussions, gathering valuable community feedback. These insights will be compiled into a report that outlines key concerns and proposed actions. The finalized findings will be shared with attendees and local government leaders to help guide future initiatives.
- Interested in the data that shaped the discussion? Click the link to view the full 2025 dataset.
He argues PSC’s official mission and values directly align with EPA’s work:
- PSC’s mission promotes “quality, affordable, and accessible educational opportunities”
- The 2023 institutional priorities explicitly call to “seek increased diversity that promotes a climate where affirmative action and equal opportunity are valued”
- Strategic goals emphasize promoting diversity and maintaining a supportive work environment
MacQueen, who also founded Innisfree Hotels, defends diversity and inclusion rejects characterizations of DEI programming as problematic.
He wrote, “Recently, Zack Smith accused WSRE of promoting DEI programming. As a former Board of Trustees member at PSC and the seventh largest employer in the Pensacola MSA, I reject that characterization. Diversity and inclusion are the bedrock of innovation and creativity.”
Read Pensacola State College’s downfall is such a loss. Ignoring residents at fault.
In February 2012, we published our Black & White issue, which showed significant disparities between our Black and White communities. Our community has focused on these disparties, first with Achieve Escambia and EPA. The percentage of Black people living in poverty has dropped from 32.7% to 26.6% as of 2022, according to the Achieve Dashboard. Read the issue.