There was never any hope the UF BOT would do anything but rubber stamp this nomination. The only hope was and still is that enough political power gets behind killing this in the BOG, the same fate as Ono last year. Honestly there was a lot more noise last year and the governor had not come out in support of last year’s nominee. Let’s hope more politicians join Rick Scott and a few others. Maybe the best thing that could happen is if this became an issue in race for governor.
If they weren’t obviously admitting weak students you might have a plausible argument. Eg Harvard expanding their remedial math offerings. They will either change course or ultimately loose their reputation which was schools which graduated very smart students with outsized egos and will become schools which graduate dumbbells with delusions of grandeur
🔥UF's Joe Biden?: UF Sole Finalist for President, Stuart Bell, Gave Biden-Like Responses at Last Week's On Campus Info Forums; 'What the hell did he just say?'
Last week, the University of Florida held information forums for faculty, staff and students to meet the sole finalist for its next President, Stuart Bell.
Despite the questions having been pre-scripted and fed to Bell so that he could respond using his prepared remarks, Bell gave a series of meandering responses, at times leaving the room wondering what on earth he was talking about.
Listen as Bell answers a question about Florida's education reform policies...only for him to talk about grapefruit.
This is who Mori Hosseini has hand picked as @UF's next President and the Board of Trustees will vote on his nomination today.
(An unedited version of the clip can be found in the comments)
And ironically that (assume you’re referring to legacy admittance priority) is why Nathan Pusey adopted the SAT at Harvard back in the 1950s to focus the admission decision on objective merit instead of legacy connections or religious affiliation. Selecting the objectively bright (and exclusivity) is really all they had. It is sad to see these institutions kill themselves
@davidspies@hamids Have you heard about black body radiation? Also did you notice that SpaceX already has thousands of satellites which somehow capture solar energy and dissipate heat
Under Stuart Bell's leadership, professors were "unambiguously" encouraged to discriminate. And faculty job finalists were scrutinized to ensure proper demographic makeup. Bell is not the right choice for UF.
@batman10023@porterstansb Yes, he did, and now he doesn’t need to leave Florida to get it. Do you think the buildings that surround Harvard Square imparted the education, or was it the liberal ideals, the faculty, and the students attracted to it that did so?
I’m returning to South Dakota at the end of the month to interview field staff.
If Senate Majority Leader Thune REFUSES to give us the SAVE America Act,
then @EarlyVoteAction will help with a Texas-sized primary in 2028.
We’re starting now.
I didn’t realize that. I wonder if you have an opinion about the current UF presidential search process. I was pretty optimistic after the appointment of Donald Landry and presumed he’d be a shoe in for the permanent position but I can’t fathom what they are thinking with the current pick announced a few weeks ago
@rock_atop@ByronDonalds Many would understand that sharing a story about when you accepted Christ is actually a strong indication of a person’s faith. Not a logical leap for most.
@gregbettinelli Any system where there is early disclosure and then continued bespoke counting is clearly subject to fraud. You know not only who’s winning but the exact count needed to catch up. Read the Caro books on LBJ!
🔥SEE WITH YOUR OWN EYES: UF President Sole Finalist, Stuart Bell, Bragged About His DEI Programs in Promo Video When President at University of Alabama
Why is @GovRonDeSantis walking away from his education reforms and supporting Bell?
Answer: Mega donor and University of Florida Chair Mori Hosseini is demanding Bell be his @UF president.
"In fact, over 1/3 of our undergraduate curriculum is diversity related"
"We have over 70 student organizations which have diversity and inclusion as a focus"
🔥Today's @nypost: University of Florida’s Latest Presidential Pick is Another DEI-Pusher
OpEd in Today's New York Post by Paul du Quenoy of @PalmInstitute
- Under Stuart Bell, "between 2016 and 2021, whites in Alabama’s student body fell by 10% while the percentage of blacks and Hispanics nearly doubled"
- "Among national universities, Alabama’s US News & World Report ranking tumbled from 88th place when Bell arrived in 2015 to 169 th when he left in 2025."
- "The university boasted that 36% of undergraduate courses were “diversity-related” and hosted what Bell said were “over 70 student organizations which have diversity and inclusion as a focus."
- "As soon as he became president, the university launched a DEI-infused program building on an earlier commitment to “diversity as part of its educational mission.” This included race-based recruitment programs for students and faculty, which are now illegal."
Has Ron DeSantis abandoned his base in favor of billionaire donor and UF Chair Mori Hosseini?
If so, what a shame to watch one of the country's best governors turn his back on the very education reforms he championed just to secure his next big donation.
You can stop this train wreck @GovRonDeSantis. Don't let this define your legacy.
(Link to article in comments)
Quick impression of these forums by Dr Bell (videos available at UFSG-SPAN YouTube channel):
1) insincere format (feel staged), all questions were curated and sanitized by Patel & the search committee of BOT, there were NO organic interactions with the audience whatsoever - Bell got treated with kid gloves;
2) extremely unimpressive performance - Dr. Bell is good at speaking many words that don't mean anything, e.g. when asked about ranking slip of Univ of Alabama (from no. ~80 to ~160), he rumbled around with a bunch of word salads without really addressing why the rank decline.
The whole thing is discouraging to watch. It's truly unacceptable that the BOT search committee is producing only one candidate Dr Bell. Why on earth wasn't Dr. Landry included in the final list? Patel, likely under Hosseini's direction, is trying to force this sole choice onto BOG and UF. The entire UF BOT should resigned or be fired.@alevine014@TimCerio you and your colleagues at BOT got to hold UF BOT accountable.
Dr Bell is unimpressive, uninspiring, see no vision nor conviction from him. UF deserves a much better leader.
@CommiesOnCampus@SenRickScott@GovRonDeSantis@Paul_Renner@ByronDonalds@Michelle_Vought@SUS_Florida@PalmInstitute@JvilleConserv@suzylebo@crystalmarull@CityJournal@ManhattanInst@EDSecMcMahon