- This fall, Humphrey is bringing his old boss, Bob Luddy, the founder of Thales College, to be the keynote speaker for the “America at 250” symposium on the UWF campus this fall. Humphrey’s first job after he earned his PhD from Hillsdale in 2020 was helping Luddy launch Thales College in Raleigh, North Carolina.
During the 2025-26 school year, UWF had Allen Mendeenhall of the Heritage Foundation, Ronald Pestritto of Hillsdale College, and Mark David Hall of Regent University.
More Viewpoints Mandated By Law
In April, an internal review circulated this week by Concerned Argos, a workgroup of UWF faculty and staff, concluded that UWF’s Office of Public Policy Events (OPPE) may be violating the Florida statute that created it—as well as the university’s own recently adopted statement on institutional neutrality.
- The bottom line: Florida law requires each state university’s OPPE to host debates featuring “speakers who represent widely held views on opposing sides” of public policy issues. The workgroup found that 75% of UWF’s OPPE events this year featured only speakers with conservative affiliations. Each OPPE must file an annual report with the state by September 1.
The numbers
The review examined 15 total speaker appearances across seven completed events and two scheduled for April 2026. Individuals serving only as moderators were excluded. Speakers were classified not by personal political beliefs but by the identifiable political orientation of their affiliated organizations.
Ideological breakdown of speaker affiliations:
- Conservative/Right: 10 speakers (71%)
- Nonpartisan/Unknown: 3 speakers (21%)
- Liberal/Left: 1 speaker (7%)
Other findings:
- Ten of fifteen events (67%) featured only speakers with conservative institutional affiliations.
- Roughly one-third of all speakers—five in total—have current or past ties to Hillsdale College, a private Christian institution with a politically engaged mission.
- Only 40% of speakers had a direct local or Florida-based affiliation, despite the statute’s fiscal preference for in-state expertise.
- 100% of the scheduled and previously featured speakers the academic year.
UWF President Manny Diaz Jr. removed Humphey as his chief of staff this spring. However, he is still on his cabinet and holds the position of VP for Strategic Initiatives.
