Christa Hazel texted me a link to the Idaho Education News article on Scott Yenor’s resignation from the University of West Florida Board of Trustees.
“Idaho Ed News finally reported; so many friends are sharing/celebrating UWF today,” Hazel wrote.
WHO IS CHRISTA HAZEL?
Christa Hazel, a conservative Republican, emerged as a key figure in helping me understand Boise State Scott Yenor and how the more extreme elements of the Republican Party have tried to take over Idaho colleges.
She shared her battle to preserve North Idaho College (NIC). As a former school board member and student body president at NIC, Hazel witnessed her alma mater transform from a respected community institution into a battleground for political ideologies.
The crisis began in 2020 when the college’s diversity council supported social justice demonstrations following George Floyd’s death. This caught the attention of the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee, which began endorsing candidates for the college’s technically nonpartisan board elections. The resulting turmoil nearly destroyed the 90-year-old institution.
A board majority led by chairman Todd Banducci, who claimed to be fighting against a liberal “deep state,” created a governance crisis that triggered multiple accreditation warnings. The financial toll was devastating, with the college overspending its 2022-23 budget by more than $1 million due to leadership turnover and insurance costs that more than doubled after trustees fired the president without cause.
What makes Hazel’s stance particularly noteworthy is that she identifies as a lifelong conservative Republican. “I affiliate with North Idaho Republicans because I don’t affiliate with some of these crazy groups,” she explained, drawing a clear line between traditional conservatism and extremism. Her organization, SaveNIC, led efforts to protect the college from ideological attacks that threatened its accreditation.
UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE: Hazel brings a unique perspective to this fight, shaped by her remarkable family history. Born in Alabama, she moved to North Idaho at age 10 when her father, FBI agent Wayne Manis, was assigned there. Manis had an extraordinary career investigating the Aryan Nations white supremacist group in Kootenai County and was involved in a shootout with Bob Mathews, founder of the domestic terrorist group The Order.
As the daughter of an FBI agent who worked on such high-profile cases, Hazel learned from a young age about the dangers associated with extremism. She recalled learning as a child that her family was on a white supremacist hit list due to her father’s involvement in cases against extremist groups.
This background likely influenced Hazel’s perspective and her later involvement in local politics and education in North Idaho. Her father’s legacy continues to resonate, with the 2024 movie “The Order” featuring Jude Law playing a character based on the FBI agent.
She and her friends have watched developments in Pensacola closely. Our victories give them hope.