More than 200 people packed inside the Studer Community Institute building Tuesday night for the first Save UWF town hall. Hundreds more watched the livestream on YouTube as a panel of speakers raised awareness about the changes in leadership at the University of West Florida.
The Save UWF committee was founded in response to recent appointments made by Gov. Ron DeSantis to the University of West Florida Board of Trustees, which include chairman Scott Yenor, who has sparked controversy over his remarks about feminism and comments that have been criticized as antisemitic.
UWF alumnus and current graduate student Domani Turner-Ward said she’s worried about UWF, which she calls her “second home.”
“Scott Yenor, as we know, is surrounded by controversy for his objectively misogynistic, racist, and antisemitic remarks both in public presentations and on social media,” said Turner-Ward, as screenshots of Yenor’s tweets were posted on TV screens. “UWF continues to improve annually by meeting and exceeding benchmarks set by the board of governors along with our own strategic plans and goals. But does the University of West Florida need any kind of reform? Considering our metrics of success, I find it highly doubtful.”
Other speakers included UWF supporter Belle Bear, business leader Quint Studer, Rick Outzen, publisher of InWeekly, former state representative Debbie Ritchie, Lusharon Wiley, former associate dean of students at UWF, and Suzanne Lewis, past chair of the UWF Board of Trustees, who was replaced by Gov. Ron DeSantis at the end of 2024. Former Pensacola Mayor Jerry Maygarden emceed the town hall.
‘UWF in great hands’
To put board appointments in context, Lewis spoke about the role of a trustee noting that the board is responsible for “90 to 100 actions” in a given year.
“First and foremost, strategic planning is based on, at UWF, a well-vetted data-driven, widely communicated performance measured mission and vision. I'm going to say that one more time. Strategic planning is based on data-driven, widely communicated performance measured mission and vision by all of you in this community,” she said.
Speakers all took turns to recognize UWF’s accomplishments such as ranking in the top 10 public institutions in the U.S. News & World Report. UWF also ranks high for student retention and median wages upon graduation. There was also equal praise for UWF President Dr. Martha Saunders.
“Through all those years, through all those board meetings, and discussions about the future of the university, one thing became crystal clear to him: UWF was in great hands under President Martha Saunders,” said Belle Bear referring to her late husband, Lewis Bear Jr. who was a supporter of UWF and served more than 10 years on the Board of Trustees.
Though Yenor has made headlines for his comments, there is also concern that the majority of appointees have no regional ties to the area. On the Save UWF website, the committee raises concerns of appointee Adam Kissel, who has criticized the GI Bill and advocates for the privatization of public universities, and Dr. Rachel Moya, who has limited experience in higher education.
Rick Outzen, publisher for InWeekly, who has reported on the board changes, received a standing ovation for his strong remarks about the board appointments comparing it to the takeover of New College of Florida.
“Important people in our community were skipped over,” Outzen said about the board appointments. “What they did at New College they want to do here. They want to show they can do it at a Division II college … it’ll be a template that they’ll use nationally.”
“Speak up, speak out, get in the way,” Outzen said.
Former UWF President Dr. Judy Bense had a similar message.
“I don’t know what we can do…but we can make it hard for them,” she said noting that Gov. DeSantis is determined to appoint his picks to the board. “You are the ones that can help us. You can stand in the way.”
Bense said the UWF community has already suffered a “spiral down” effect from the new appointees.
“Already faculty and job seekers are flooding the academic market to get the heck out of UWF because they’re afraid. Students are turning away,” she said.
A call to action
Giving a call to action to the room, former state representative and Chief Operating Officer for Studer Group and Heron, Debbie Ritchie, urged the people in the room to put action behind their concerns.
“What is your why? We want you to communicate that to the people of influence who can make the decision about the future of not only our university but our community,” she said.
The appointees in question still have to be confirmed by the Committee on Ethics and Elections, which is chaired by District 1 State Senator Don Gaetz. However, the governor decides when to send names for confirmation and UWF appointees have not been sent to the committee yet.
Ritchie advised personal notes, phone calls, or emails to state legislators, and the governor. Contacting Senator Gaetz is “critically important,” she said.
A handful of speakers from the crowd took the mic to share their concerns and stories including UWF graduate Sam Brown who studied mechanical engineering. She got emotional sharing Yenor’s comments from his 2021 speech at the National Conservatism Conference where he said that “every effort must be made not to recruit women into engineering but rather to recruit and demand more of men who become engineers.”
He doubled down on the comment on the social media platform, X, saying universities shouldn’t be setting up scholarships and programs to recruit women into engineering.
As a woman in engineering, who benefited from such programs, Brown took offense.
“I’m a civil engineer now and I’ve been doing that for about three years and I just want to say while I love my co-workers, it’s really hard to be the only woman every single day,” said Brown. “Engineering is important to me and especially motivating women to join engineering.”
Debbie Ritchie took the mic to call Brown’s comments “powerful.” And she advised the crowd to bring that energy into their own advocacy.
“Find that kind of power in your voice and it means speaking about why it matters to you.”
The next UWF Board of Trustees meeting is Thursday, March 20 at 9 a.m.
