University of West Florida Board of Trustees appointee Adam Kissel was not confirmed by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Higher Education on Wednesday.
The Florida Board of Governors appointees, including Rebecca Matthews, Rachel Moya, and Ashley Ross, were confirmed. The next step is a confirmation hearing with the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee.
Though Kissel was not confirmed, he can still continue to serve on the Board of Trustees until he gets a hearing. Governor Ron DeSantis, who originally appointed Kissel, can still reappoint if not confirmed by the committee.
Only one senator on the committee, Sen. Danny Burgess, voted in favor of confirming Kissel.
RELATED: Save UWF town hall draws standing room only crowd. Community leaders urge people to 'speak up'
UWF President Emeritus Dr. Judy Bense traveled to Tallahassee to speak at Wednesday’s hearing. Former UWF trustees Jeanne Godwin and Suzanne Lewis, along with UWF graduate student Domani Turner-Ward and Chuck Harris also spoke. All were wearing red “Save UWF” buttons.
“The effect of the nominees up for confirmation has been chilling on the University of West Florida,” said Dr. Bense, who noted the change.org petition that has circulated with more than 3,000 signatures. “The community is very upset. They feel it personally, they feel it politically, and they feel it financially. I request, as a previous president of a great university, is to please take these points into consideration for the sake of our university and the sake of our people.”
William Mattox, a senior director at James Madison Institute, spoke at the hearing to give support for Kissel.
While Chairman Scott Yenor has made local headlines for his comments and was mentioned at the meeting, Kissel’s own comments about privatizing public universities and his critique of the GI Bill were questioned by senators.
Kissel said his comments about privatizing pertained to a “weak” school in West Virginia and that he didn’t know of a university in Florida that should be privatized.
“UWF is growing, the state of Florida is growing,” Kissel said. “More resources than fewer should be going to the university.”
Appropriations Committee on Higher Education Chair Sen. Gayle Harrell questioned Kissel about his views on the GI Bill.
RELATED: No fireworks at UWF Board of Trustees' first on-campus meeting
“I believe you have stated that one of the worst mistakes made was the passage of the GI Bill and the funding of education for people coming out of the military. How does that comport with the institution you’ve been appointed to that sits in one of the largest military areas – there are five installations there?” said Harrell.
Kissel said what he wrote was that universities have a “significant overpopulation problem in general” and that it’s doing a disservice to have students “with debt, but no degree.” And while he thinks veterans have a greater chance of graduating, his comments were about the 1940s.
With the University of West Florida located among five local military installations, Kissel said he wanted to expand small business programs in the Fort Walton Beach area, where UWF has a campus, to connect more with the military community to the east, where there are two Air Force bases.
With Kissel being a visiting fellow of The Heritage Foundation, Sen. Tracie Davis asked about his views and involvement on Project 2025.
“My name doesn’t appear on the report,” he said. “The education chapter was the only one I read, and I agree with probably everything in it. I don’t really know what’s in most of the other chapters.”
Before the vote, senators shared their concerns about Kissel’s confirmation and the lack of appointees with local ties.
“Pensacola is unique, Northwest Florida is unique, UWF is unique,” said Sen. Jay Trumbull. “It concerns me when I hear Dr. Bense speak about students who don’t want to come there. I do know that this is not the end of the road for him (Kissel). As a person who represents the panhandle, I struggle with the fact that there are only two trustees who even live in the central time zone.”
If they are confirmed by Senate Ethics and Elections Committee and approved by the full Senate, Matthews and Ross would serve five-year terms ending Jan. 6, 2030, and Moya’s term would end Jan. 6, 2028.
Yenor’s name has not yet been submitted for confirmation.
