DeSantis appoints conservative think tank members to university board

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has appointed five new members to the board overseeing the University of West Florida in Pensacola, including two people affiliated with the conservative think tank behind Project 2025.

The appointments to the public university in Florida's western panhandle come two years after DeSantis tapped six new board members to oversee New College of Florida, in what critics say was a hostile political takeover of the small progressive school.

The new appointees to UWF's board include Adam Kissel, a visiting fellow on higher education reform for The Heritage Foundation, which proposed Project 2025 as a policy blueprint for a hard-right turn in American government and society. Kissel served in the U.S. Department of Education under President Donald Trump.

DeSantis also appointed Scott Yenor, a political science professor at Boise State University who previously was a visiting fellow on American political thought at The Heritage Project.

The other nominees are Paul Bailey, an adjunct professor in the pre-law program at Pensacola Christian College; Gates Garcia, president of the private equity firm Pinehill Capital Partners; and Chris Young, founder of the personal injury law firm Perry & Young.

The appointments are subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate, where Republicans hold a supermajority. In 2023, senators declined to confirm one of DeSantis' most controversial New College nominees, but approved the others.

DeSantis built his national profile by leveraging divisive policies in Florida’s classrooms, banning instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity, rooting out diversity programs and limiting what Florida schools can teach about racism.