Florida International University trustees voted Friday to install Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez as interim president, meaning she will leave her statewide-elected office 23 months before her term expires. Trustees expect she will assume the presidency officially after a formal search.
“The governor’s office has contacted me and suggested that we consider Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez as the next leader for FIU,” Board of Trustees Chair Roger Tovar said during a special meeting held via Zoom. “Subsequent to that, I have had several conversations with the Lt. Gov. Nuñez, who confirmed her interest in leading this great university, which happens to be her alma mater.”
During a news conference on immigration Friday morning, DeSantis said the leap actually was her idea. He applauded Nuñez for her support for his policies as lieutenant governor, including efforts to “bring some sanity” to higher education.
“This is something she was interested in doing, she had my endorsement and my support, and I think that she’s somebody that is very well regarded in the community anyways,” DeSantis said.
The interim hiring would be effective Feb. 17. The university must launch a formal search to name a president, although trustee Dean Colson said the “probable results of the search are already known.”
Sitting FIU President Kenneth Jessell, who served for three years and whose contract was set to expire in November, will become senior vice president and chief administrative officer. Tovar called the administrative changes “additive.”
“I have complete confidence in the lieutenant governor,” Jessell said. “She’s a double Panther, and I look forward to supporting her. I look forward to continuing supporting our students, our faculty, our staff, our alumni, our great supporters and donors, and our community.”
Finding funding
Trustees praised Jessell’s leadership while emphasizing a desire to boost fundraising efforts.
“Given the university FIU is today, a top 50 public preeminent research university, we need to increase our endowment to at least $500 million and triple our annual fundraising. World class universities have healthy endowments. This is imperative for the university’s future,” Tovar said.
The move, notably, comes shortly before the 2025 legislative session starts, when lawmakers will decide how much state support the Miami institution will receive.
Tovar said Nuñez’s experience as a health care lobbyist and lieutenant governor make her “an ideal leader to help transition FIU into the future,” noting her connections in the community and in Tallahassee.
She graduated from FIU in 1994 with a bachelor degree in political science and international relations and in 1998 earned a master degree in public administration.
Nuñez posted to X following the vote, saying she is “deeply committed to the success of FIU. I look forward to working with the Board of Trustees in the coming days.”
Her salary as lieutenant governor is $135,000. The outgoing president, Jessell, made a base salary of $650,000.
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Opposition
Trustee Noël Barengo, representative of the FIU Faculty Senate, was the lone no-vote on Nuñez. He questioned the need to remove Jessell before the contract ended and voiced “deep concern about what we see as another effort by the governor’s office to interfere with public higher education.”
Several of the about 15 people speaking during public comment questioned Nuñez’s qualifications to serve in higher education, as well as the need for a new president given the lack of criticism of Jessell’s leadership.
Kassandra Toussaint, an FIU student, speaks in opposition to trustees voting to name Lt. Gov. Nuñez as interim president. (Screenshot via FIU trustees livestream)
“Jeanette Nuñez is a textbook example of what happens when politicians prioritize partisan loyalty over genuine leadership. Rather than standing up for people, for the people of Florida, Nuñez has acted as a rubber stamp for policies that erase history, limit opportunities, and push a narrow, exclusionary agenda,” said Kassandra Toussaint, mentioning Nuñez’s recent walk-back of her previous support for in-state tuition for Dreamers.
Every public-comment speaker was against the change in leadership.
“FIU deserves better than a yes-woman for DeSantis’ dangerous agenda,” Toussaint said. “We deserve leaders who fight for all of us, not just those who fit their narrow vision of who belongs.”
DeSantis specifically mentioned the Adam Smith Center for Economic Freedom at FIU, a think tank studying free-market policies labeled as non-partisan. He suggested the center might increase its activity under Nuñez.
“I think you have pretty much every right-of-center former head of state in the entire Western hemisphere has been there to talk, and so they’ve really been great at promoting free enterprise and the rule of law and constitutional government. I think they’re going to be able to do a lot more of that going forward,” the governor said.
Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried called the hiring “Republican hypocrisy.”
“Just a few weeks after she backflipped on protecting in-state tuition for Dreamers — Jeanette Nuñez will now lead one of the most diverse colleges in the state. With her record, how can she be trusted to lead the college with the largest population of Hispanic students in the country?” Fried said in a prepared statement Friday morning.
“Her appointment is just the latest move in Ron’s hostile takeover of Florida’s colleges and universities, as he continues to install political hacks and loyalists to push his partisan agenda,” Fried continued. “It has nothing to do with improving Florida’s cratering educational outcomes and everything to do with rewarding loyalty.”
‘Engaged governor’s office’
Naming of an interim president often follows the retirement or resignation of a sitting president. The transition at FIU defies common practice, Colson acknowledged.
“Is the current way we are selecting a president a perfect system? I don’t think so. Is the current selection process what was anticipated when the Florida Constitution was amended to create an independent board of governors? Again, I don’t think so,” Colson said.
“But will FIU find itself not just surviving but thriving over the next decade under its new leadership team? Well, I think so, and for that reason, I’m hopeful in support of your motion.”
Colson advocated for the Board of Governors to revise its presidential selection rules.
“We all know that the BOG is an independent constitutional body, but its rules did not anticipate the reality of an engaged governor’s office being involved in the hiring of our presidents. I don’t think this engagement is going to change in the next two years. And I think you can’t help but wonder what happens in two years when we have a new governor — are these presidencies going to be included in the jobs that a new governor might want to fill during his or her transition or first few years in office?”
Presidential searches often take months, requiring appointment of a formal search committee that names a shortlist of finalists (in the case of University of Florida and Ben Sasse the list was as short as one) that must be approved by the Board of Governors and university trustees.
The transition from interim to permanent president would cost “a lot of time and money,” “when the probable results of the search are already known,” Colson said.
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www.clickorlando.com – Mary Clare Jalonick, Associated Press – 2025-04-30 16:28:00
SUMMARY: Senate Democrats are forcing a vote on blocking global tariffs announced by Donald Trump earlier in April. After market turmoil, Trump suspended the tariffs for 90 days. Senate Democrats aim to challenge the policy and force Republicans to take a stance. While 47 Senate Democrats are expected to support the resolution, Republicans are hesitant, with some opposing it to avoid rebuking Trump. Despite concerns over the economic impact, Republicans are wary of crossing the president. Democrats argue the tariffs harm the economy and increase recession risks, pushing the resolution as a way to reassert congressional power.
SUMMARY: South Florida’s weather for Wednesday, April 30, 2025, features breezy conditions, with highs in the low 80s and an east breeze of 10-18 mph, gusting to 25 mph. There’s a risk of rip currents, extended through Friday, making swimming dangerous. While the day remains mostly dry with a mix of sun and clouds, isolated showers are possible. By Friday, rain chances increase, with isolated showers. The weekend brings higher chances of afternoon thunderstorms, especially on Sunday, along with rising temperatures. A 20% chance of rain is expected on Saturday, and 40% on Sunday.
NEXT Weather meteorologist Lissette Gonzalez says Wednesday afternoon will be seasonable and breezy with wind gust up to 20 mph.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Steve Wilson | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-30 11:33:00
(The Center Square) – The Florida Legislature passed its farm bill this week that officials say could be the most expansive farm-related measure in the state’s history.
Senate Bill 700 was passed 88-27 in the House of Representatives on Tuesday and is now headed to Gov. Ron DeSantis for a likely signature. The Senate passed the 111-page measure 27-9 on April 16.
SB700, which was sponsored by Sen. Keith Truenow, R-Tavares, would protect farmers from environmental, social, and governance-related bias from lenders, ban the addition of medicine such as fluoride from being added to the water supply, bolster the disaster recovery loan program for farmers and preventing the mislabeling of plant-based products as milk, meat, poultry or eggs.
The fluoride additive ban would not remove any chemical required for water purification.
During debate, Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, mentioned a legal challenge to the state’s law on laboratory-grown meat and possible legal challenges to the labeling part of the legislation.
“Consumers aren’t confused, but if anything, the expansion of alternative meat, alternative protein products is based on demand and companies wouldn’t do it there wasn’t demand for it,” Eskamani said. “The changes in this bill, the goal is to hinder that demand by creating confusion.
“And so to trust the free market means to allow companies to advertise themselves and appeal to consumers based on quality and I think I can speak for some members that some of these alternative products aren’t very good. To insert ourselves between the consumer and the product by forcing them to not to use specific language is a step too far. It restricts free speech and it’s just unnecessary.”
Two amendments she tried to add on the bill to eliminate the labeling and fluoride components died on voice votes.
Under SB700, local governments would be banned from zoning changes that would make it impossible for agricultural facilities to be placed on school property for 4-H and Future Farmers of America.
The bill would also prohibit local governments from banning housing for legally verified farm workers on farms. It would also create a requirement for legal worker eligibility to prevent noncitizens from working on farms.
The bill even stretches to Second Amendment issues, as it will streamline the state’s concealed carry permit process.
The measure would also forbid drones on state hunting lands or private shooting ranges for the purpose of harassment.
Charitable organizations would be prohibited from receiving foreign contributions from “countries of concern” such as Iran, Venezuela, China, Cuba, North Korea and Syria.
“This legislation is a blueprint for protecting Floridians and our freedoms,” said Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson in a release. “We are banning medicine – including fluoride – from Florida’s public water systems. We are keeping foreign countries of concern out of Florida’s charitable organizations.
“We are ensuring honesty in food labeling – milk comes from a cow, not an almond. We are upholding Second Amendment rights and cracking down on drone harassment of hunters.”
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Right
The content presents a description of the Florida Legislature’s farm bill (SB700), emphasizing provisions that align with conservative political values, such as the protection of farmers from ESG-related bias, the restriction on certain food labeling, and measures around the Second Amendment and foreign contributions to charitable organizations. The tone of the article highlights actions that may appeal to right-leaning audiences, especially those supportive of agricultural, conservative, and pro-Second Amendment policies. While the article reports on the legislative process and includes a variety of perspectives, including a Democratic representative’s opposition, the framing and tone lean toward presenting the bill’s provisions positively, suggesting a preference for conservative positions. The article provides factual details but could be perceived as highlighting the bill’s conservative aspects more than its potential drawbacks or opposing views.
