Amid Gov. Ron DeSantis’ efforts to reshape the state’s higher-education system, the University of West Florida Board of Trustees on Tuesday selected state Education Commissioner Manny Díaz Jr. to serve as the school’s interim president.
Díaz, a close ally of DeSantis, will succeed outgoing President Martha Saunders, who announced on May 14 that she would step down.
The selection of Díaz, a Hialeah Republican who served in the House and Senate before being appointed commissioner in 2022, drew harsh criticism from community leaders, students and faculty members in the runup to Tuesday’s 8-2 vote by the trustees.
Jerry Maygarden, a former state representative who has been involved with the university for more than five decades, was among the people who urged the board to consider other options for a successor to Saunders.
Maygarden noted that rumors of Diaz’s potential selection circulated “for more than a year” and predicted that the appointment of the politically connected commissioner on an interim basis would have a negative impact on a search for a new president if Diaz decides to seek the job on a permanent basis.
“If you name him the interim president, you will shut down the applicant pool,” Maygarden warned.
“Top-drawer candidates will not want to sacrifice their current positions for a political process that appears to be, as one Tallahassee insider said, a done deal,” he added.
Tallahassee State College President Jim Murdaugh and Northwest Florida State College President Mel Ponder, a former state representative, supported Díaz.
Díaz, who served as education chairman in the Senate, “had legislative successes in policy and appropriations” and “knows the halls of the Capitol extremely well, which I think would really serve the university well, from that regard,” Ponder said.
Murdaugh called Díaz a “thought leader” who has established himself as a “highly effective” leader in education.
Díaz has a bachelor’s degree from St. Thomas University, a master’s degree from Nova Southeastern University and has completed a Harvard Graduate School of Education program for principals, according to a news release issued by UWF after the trustees met.
Díaz began his career as a social-studies teacher and coached baseball in Miami-Dade County public schools. He also served as an assistant principal from 2007 to 2013, when he went to work as chief operating officer of Doral College, which is affiliated with charter-school operator Academica.
Speaking to the board after Tuesday’s vote, Díaz addressed concerns that he lacked the qualifications to serve as president of the university, which has roughly 14,000 students.
“While I have a vast experience in the K-12 world, obviously, I also have been involved in higher ed, not just as a policymaker in the Legislature and as a member of the (state university system’s) Board of Governors, but as an administrator in my, quote unquote, day job,” Díaz said, adding that he’s “had a lot of conversations” with people in the region.
Díaz also said he’s “enjoyed very good relationships” with members of the Northwest Florida legislative delegation.
“I understand that this institution has a very unique place in this community. It has an identity of this community, not only as an economic engine, but also as a guardian of the historic trust,” he said. “But it is a robust military community, and I think that is going to continue to be important.”
Controversy has swirled around the University of West Florida for months. DeSantis and the university system’s Board of Governors appointed a slate of trustees — including Boise State University political science professor Scott Yenor — to the school in December and January. Yenor was quickly elected chairman of the board but drew opposition, in part, because of issues such as a 2021 comment calling working women “more medicated, meddlesome and quarrelsome than women need to be.” Yenor stepped down from the board in April.
Alonzie Scott, a trustee who was appointed to the board in 2018 and reappointed by DeSantis in 2019, on Tuesday questioned not only Díaz’s qualifications but also the process resulting in his nomination.
As speculation swelled about Díaz, the university did not identify him as a potential interim president until the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting was posted on Monday.
“I don’t know of any place in any job that I've ever had in my entire career where you select one person and you … give them to a board and make that be the only choice,” said Scott, who opposed Díaz’s selection.
Scott also said the board appeared to have “circumvented” procedures “to create a facade of a meeting” so Díaz could be tapped as interim president.
“I can’t prove that any of us have violated the Sunshine (Law) guidelines, but I can tell you … it appears that those decisions were made before this board even had a chance to discuss,” Scott said. “That is a travesty in terms of how we operate. It’s a slap in the face of what we consider a process of getting things done and it’s certainly a disservice to the community of Northwest Florida, Escambia County and all the other counties that the school draws students from.”
Scott repeatedly pressed board Chairwoman Rebecca Matthews, who also chairs the Florida Education Foundation, to reveal who she spoke to about Díaz’s appointment before Tuesday. Matthews’ nonprofit is a direct-support organization for the state Department of Education, which Díaz oversees.
Matthews said she spoke with state university system Chancellor Ray Rodrigues and “many folks.”
“Folks in the administration. Folks in the community,” Matthews said, bristling at Scott’s questions. “I don’t know that I have to run through that list with you today.”
Before the vote on Díaz, Matthews praised his record.
“Commissioner Díaz is high energy. He’s a tireless leader, an advocate with endless ideas to brainstorm. His vision, his foresight, his strong ability to implement has been proven time and time again,” she said.
Trustees Ashley Ross, who was appointed to the board by DeSantis in January, and Rachel Moya, who was appointed by the Board of Governors in December, also strongly recommended Díaz.
But questions remained about the impact of Diaz’s selection on a presidential search.
Dick Baker, a trustee who also has been affiliated with UWF for more than five decades, suggested Díaz would not be willing to leave his position as education commissioner — with the support of the governor — for a temporary job as president.
“I don’t think a (presidential) search when the interim president is also a candidate will attract any great candidates … so I hope we don’t spend much money or do a relatively meaningless search,” Baker, who endorsed Díaz as interim president, said.
