Reaction to Yenor's resignation and who he blames

The University of West Florida (UWF) Board of Trustees Chairman Scott Yenor blamed his resignation yesterday on “opposition to my nomination among a group within Florida’s Senate.”

Sen. Don Gaetz, whose committee would have needed to approve Yenor’s appointment, told The News Service of Florida:

“I believe that Mr. Yenor did the gentlemanly thing, because gentlemen don’t go where no one wants them, and his timely resignation takes much of the steam out of what otherwise might have been an unnecessary blowup between Gov. DeSantis and many of his Northwest Florida friends and supporters.”

In his resignation email to UWF President Dr. Martha Saunders, Yenor, a Boise State political science professor, painted himself as a “patriotic reformer,” who believes “higher education status quo is bad for our country.” He praised Gov. Ron DeSantis, who appointed the Idaho resident, and stated the governor’s “higher education reforms are models for the country.”

He added, “I was looking forward to bringing the governor’s positive vision for higher education to the University of West Florida as a member of the Board of Trustees.”

However, Gov. DeSantis never came to Pensacola to explain his vision for UWF. Despite holding three to four press conferences around the state every week, the governor has not visited Escambia County since he appointed Yenor.

STRONG LOCAL OPPOSITION

Yenor did not mention Save UWF and the local opposition to his serving on the UWF Board of Trustees, but Sen. Don Gaetz did in his interview with The News Service of Florida.

“We live in a time when our words and our actions follow us everywhere. And Mr. Yenor’s background, including his most recent background, did not lend itself well to even the highly conservative population of Northwest Florida,” Gaetz said.

After this blog announced the resignation, Save UWF sent out this message to its supporters:

This is a significant victory for our UWF community and for everyone who stood up and said, “This isn’t who we are.”

Yenor’s appointment drew immediate concern across campus and throughout our region. From his harmful remarks about women — describing career-driven women as “medicated, meddlesome, and quarrelsome” — to his divisive views on inclusion and equity, it was clear that his values didn’t reflect ours.

He also had no ties to UWF or Pensacola, raising real concerns that political agendas — not our students’ futures — were being prioritized in shaping the university’s leadership.

But thanks to you — and to the faculty, students, alumni, neighbors, and local leaders who came together — we changed the conversation.

We made it clear that this university belongs to all of us. And we’re going to fight to keep it that way.

Today, the Senate Higher Education Committee will hold confirmation hearings at 10 a.m. CDT. The committee has already rejected Adam Kissel. Gov. DeSantis’ remaining three appointees are on the agenda: Gates Garcia, Paul Bailey and Chris Young. Here are their applications:

GOOD NEWS TO IDAHO

Idaho residents have fought Yenor and his “patriotic reformers” and their “chaos agenda” for years. I sent my blog post to Christa Hazel, who shared with me her fight to help North Idaho College keep its accreditation.

Christa texted: “I love a hopeful message! I just sat with Vanity Fair this weekend — they are perplexed by our politics up here. LOL!”

She added:

“I’m glad to know Florida is more sane!”

Controversial Chairman Exits UWF Board

By Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida

TALLAHASSEE — Scott Yenor, a Boise State University political scientist who faced an outcry after being appointed to the University of West Florida Board of Trustees, has stepped down from the board.

Gov. Ron DeSantis in January appointed Yenor to the UWF board, and he was quickly elected chairman. The Idaho professor drew criticism for such issues as a 2021 comment calling working women “more medicated, meddlesome and quarrelsome than women need to be.”

In a letter Wednesday to UWF President Martha Saunders, Yenor blamed his resignation on opposition from “a group within Florida’s senate.” Senate Ethics and Elections Chairman Don Gaetz, a Niceville Republican whose district includes the university, raised questions about the Idaho professor’s lack of ties to the community.

Yenor’s letter called higher-education changes led by DeSantis “models for the country” and said he was “looking forward to bringing the governor’s positive vision” for higher education to UWF as a member of the board.

“Patriotic reformers in higher education need to imagine a different future. We know that the higher education status quo is bad for the country. Eliminating pernicious practices from our universities is a start, and Florida has led the way,” Yenor, whose resignation was effective immediately, wrote.

Senate confirmation is required for trustees. Gaetz said DeSantis’ office had not referred Yenor’s nomination to the Senate before the resignation Wednesday.

“I believe that Mr. Yenor did the gentlemanly thing, because gentlemen don’t go where no one wants them, and his timely resignation takes much of the steam out of what otherwise might have been an unnecessary blowup between Gov. DeSantis and many of his Northwest Florida friends and supporters,” Gaetz told The News Service of Florida.

Gaetz said opposition to Yenor’s appointment had increased in the community in recent weeks.

“We live in a time when our words and our actions follow us everywhere. And Mr. Yenor’s background, including his most recent background, did not lend itself well to even the highly conservative population of Northwest Florida,” Gaetz said.

Yenor’s resignation letter said he intended to continue his work to “make America’s universities great,” adding that UWF “too has great potential to celebrate Western civilization while staying connected to dynamic economic changes.”

Yenor’s resignation came the same day the Senate unanimously passed a measure (SB 312), sponsored by Gaetz, that included removing the chairman of the UWF Board of Trustees from the board of the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition — a move that had been aimed at Yenor. The institute, established at UWF, is affiliated with several Florida universities, according to its website.

DeSantis had steadfastly defended Yenor. The governor in February said he stood “100 percent” behind Yenor after the professor was called “a bigot” and “misogynist” by former state Sen. Randy Fine, a Brevard County Republican who was elected to Congress on April 1.

DeSantis at the time called Yenor, who is affiliated with the conservative Claremont Institute’s Center for the American Way of Life, “a champion for the types of reforms at universities that we need” and called criticism of the professor “very flimsy.”

Yenor was part of a slate of UWF trustees appointed by DeSantis and the state university system’s Board of Governors amid the governor’s efforts to reshape Florida’s higher education system.

Yenor says he resigned due to opposition ‘among small group within Florida’s Senate’

STRONG LOCAL OPPOSITION

GOOD NEWS TO IDAHO

Controversial Chairman Exits UWF Board

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