Locals Urge Senate to Reject “Divisive” UWF Trustee Nominee

The University of West Florida trustee Zack Smith must be confirmed by the Florida Senate during this legislative cycle. He missed his confirmation hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Higher Education last week. Smith’s hearing before the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee has not been set.

• However, locals have written letters to the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee objecting to Smith’s confirmation. Marcia Lundstrom, a former trustee of the Historic Pensacola Preservation Board and a lifelong Republican, shared her letter with Inweekly.

In a letter to committee members, Lindstrom describes Smith as “one of the most divisive nominees” and questions how Governor DeSantis’s political appointments are affecting the university.

“Governor DeSantis’s political appointments to UWF’s Board of Trustees jeopardize the mission and role the university plays in northwest Florida,” Lindstrom writes.

Questions About Presidential Search

Lindstrom raises serious concerns about the presidential search process Smith chaired, which eliminated 83 of 84 candidates and named only the interim president as a finalist.

• “The Presidential Search Committee, chaired by Zachary Smith, eliminated 83 candidates three weeks after the deadline to apply and named the interim president as the sole candidate. This sort of sham proceeding should be carefully analyzed,” she writes, noting that Board of Governors regulation 1.002 requires at least three candidates.

Saunders Resignation Timeline

The letter questions Smith’s role in President Martha Saunders’ resignation, noting he launched criticisms at his first board meeting, just one day after his appointment in May 2024.

• “From his first board meeting, just one day after his appointment, he raised issues intended to discredit the esteemed President Martha Saunders. Dr. Saunders subsequently resigne,d realizing her remaining time was fruitless,” Lindstrom writes, asking: “how and when did Mr. Smith obtain so many details going back years?”

Eight Months of Controversy

Lindstrom details Smith’s actions from April through November 2025, including pushing to deny a PSC faculty sabbatical over disagreement with poverty research, allegedly violating the privacy of UWF tenure candidates, publishing articles attacking a holiday drag show and the city of Pensacola, criticizing PBS affiliate WSRE, and attacking education nonprofit Achieve Escambia.

She argues Smith’s public commentary on community events conflicts with UWF’s move toward institutional neutrality: “His negative comments on community events (like the holiday drag show at the Saenger Theater) clearly invalidate his ability to be neutral at a public university.”

• Lindstrom concludes: “The role you play has never been more critical in guarding and protecting Florida’s universities. Please give serious consideration to the points below and vote against confirming Zachary Smith.”

From: Marcia Lindstrom
Date: December 4, 2025 at 8:28:03?AM CST
To: gaetz.don.web@flsenate.gov, bernard.mack.web@flsenate.gov, avila.bryan.web@flsenate.gov, bradley.jennifer.web@flsenate.gov, garcia.ileana.web@flsenate.gov, grall.erin.web@flsenate.gov, polsky.tina.web@flsenate.gov, rousin.darryl.web@flsenate.gov
Subject: UWF Trustee Zachary Smith Confirmation

Dear members of the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee,

One of the most divisive nominees to the UWF Board of Trustees is on your agenda for next week’s confirmation hearing. I urge you to carefully consider the reasons listed as to why Zachary Smith should not be confirmed. From his first board meeting just one day after his appointment, he raised issues intended to discredit the esteemed President Martha Saunders. Dr. Saunders subsequently resigned realizing her remaining time was fruitless. So a question immediately should be asked, how and when did Mr. Smith obtain so many details going back years.

Governor DeSantis’s political appointments to UWF’s Board of Trustees jeopardizes the mission and role the university plays in northwest Florida. The Presidential Search Committee chaired by Zachary Smith eliminated 83 candidates three weeks after the deadline to apply and named the interim president as the sole candidate. This sort of sham proceeding should be carefully analyzed.

The role you play has never been more critical in guarding and protecting Florida’s universities. Please give serious consideration to the points below and vote against confirming Zachary Smith.

Sincerely yours,
Marcia Lindstrom
Pensacola and a lifelong Republican

Reasons why Nominee Zachary Smith should not be confirmed as a UWF trustee:

Since his time at PSC (Beginning Feb 2025) and UWF (May), he has sparked negative media coverage, causing controversy and threatening the public reputations of both institutions.

• April 2025 – pushed to deny a sabbatical at PSC because he disagreed with the poverty research the faculty member was pursuing.
• May 2025 – leads the attack on former President Saunders, who later resigned. He focussed on activities that happened years prior to the passing of SB 266, yet claimed violations of the law.
• June 2025 – violates the privacy of UWF faculty going up for tenure because the research subject was not in line with his ideological views
• July 2025 – publishes an additional article in The Daily Signal attacking the Drag Show and First Amendment rights
• August 2025 – publishes an additional article in The Daily Signal attacking the city of Pensacola about the Drag Show and removes any sense of neutrality within the community.
• September 2025 – attacks and takes down WSRE (PBS affiliate)
• October 2025 – attacks Achieve Escambia (Achieve Escambia is a non-profit organization that brings people and resources together to create an environment where every learner can achieve their fullest potential from cradle to career.)
• November 2025 – As chair, he fails to adhere to BOG 1.002 and mismanages the presidential search committee. There were 84 applicants for the position, why did he advocate to nominate only 1 candidate rather than the at least 3 required by BOG 1.002?

Conflict of interest as he serves on the PSC Board of Trustees. Although the two institutions collaborate, each has separate issues he would need to advocate for as they serve the same target market.

UWF is adopting a policy of Institutional Neutrality; his negative comments on community events (like the after-hours, adults-only holiday drag show at the Saenger Theater) clearly invalidate his ability to be neutral at a public university.

His history of unfounded comments and critiques of UWF shows his lack of support for the institution. Trustees should work towards the success of the institution.

In May, with only a couple of days’ notice, Smith was able to construct a full attack on former president, Martha Saunders. Who gave him the information?

His attack on WSRE, the local PBS station, was a clear attack on public broadcasting, and UWF has WUWF. The station is fiscally sound and operates in service to the community with a clear code of editorial ethics.

He has demonstrated a clear lack of knowledge of higher education processes and procedures. An example of this can be seen in his comments regarding the UWF General Education list, where he asked about course duplication when two courses had a similar title, one was an art class, and one was a history class. Trustees should be familiar with agenda items before coming to meetings.