The University of West Florida Board of Trustees held their March regular meeting on the Pensacola campus Thursday. It was the first in-person meeting of the BOT to be held locally since Gov. Ron DeSantis’ controversial appointment of eight new members, including board chairman, and conservative political scientist, Scott Yenor.
The meeting was held two days after hundreds of people in the community attended a Save UWF town hall to voice their concerns about the direction of the university under its new leadership. And it was convened one month after a student-led protest on campus opposing what they called Gov. DeSantis’ political takeover of the university.
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Protesters have taken particular aim at Chairman Scott Yenor’s controversial comments about feminism.
During the public comment segment of today’s meeting, parent Donna Waters expressed concerns about her daughter’s efforts to attain an education degree from UWF so that she can become a special education teacher.
“Is my daughter welcome here at this university? Is my daughter allowed to attend this university since she’s female?” Waters asked. “Your board president seems to think, ‘no.’ I’m asking for you to disavow that kind of backward, dangerous, and damaging rhetoric.”
Focusing her comments on the UWF 2025 Accountability Plan, Waters called on board members to provide equal opportunities for education and jobs, no matter their gender.
“And, I’m asking for you to be accountable to me as a parent, be accountable to the women at this university, and be accountable to this community, a community that I’m a member of, although I understand many of you are not,” she said, pointing out that the new DeSantis appointees don’t live in Northwest Florida. “Be accountable to this community and to the right thing.”
Stan Waters, a 2010 alum in engineering technology, was the only other member of the community to speak during the public forum. He came to support the creation of UWF’s new Bachelor's in Civil Engineering degree program.
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“I’m still good friends with one of my professors, who no longer works here because of the 'woke agenda' of this college that pretty much pushed him out,” complained McDaniels, as he spoke in support of UWF’s new leadership. “So I just want to thank this commission and I just pray that we can all get along as we move forward with the many changes that our nation and our community, right here in Escambia County, needs.”
Chairman Yenor attended the meeting remotely. However given the possibility of his first in-person appearance and expectations of a large, emotional crowd, there was an increased police presence at the UWF Conference Center, where the meeting was held. Gov. DeSantis sent five uniformed troopers from the Florida Highway Patrol, although only UWF police were visibly present in the meeting room.
After the public speakers, UWF President, Dr. Martha Saunders presented her report. She noted that enrollment continues to rise, spring semester is up 6%. Also, she pointed out that UWF ranked among the best in the nation in the 2025 U.S. News and World Report Best Online College rankings, ranked 39th among more than 350 institutions for Best Online Bachelor’s Programs and 25th for Best Online Bachelor’s programs for veterans.
In addition, Saunders pointed to UWF’s new doctorate in Health and Human Performance and noted the accomplishments of UWF faculty and athletics programs, including another appearance in the NCAA tournament for the women’s basketball team and the 2025 ITA DII National Men's Team Indoor Championship, the first for the UWF men’s tennis team.
“If our people goals are met, every student, every undergraduate at UWF will have access to a scholarship,” she said. “If our program goals are met, UWF will see the naming of at least 35 academic programs, departments, and facilities. If our place goals are met, UWF will break ground on a new stadium and build cutting-edge lab and learning spaces.”
Acknowledging many student complaints, Trustee Dr. Susan James, requested the board pull for discussion their proposal to revise the UWF regulation regarding the transfer of credits for undergraduates. The panel approved the revision but left the timeline to the discretion of the University.
Additionally, the BOT gave unanimous approval to the UWF 2025 Accountability Plan, which includes goals for enrollment and for meeting performance metrics in 2024-25, such as rate of academic progress (88%). The goal for UWF’s four-year graduate rate is 57% for 2024-28. The goal is to have median wages for UWF Bachelor’s graduates to be $56,500 by the 2027-28 academic year and to bring the average yearly student cost during that timeframe down to $7,700 from the current cost of $7,800.
