TALLAHASSEE — A Republican politician with no experience in higher education has become the sole finalist to lead a Central Florida state university after three other candidates abruptly withdrew from a selection process that has raised concerns about political influence.
Republican state Rep. Fred Hawkins, a close ally of Gov. Ron DeSantis, was elected by the South Florida State University District Board of Trustees Wednesday morning, two days after Hawkins filed his application and five days after the board voted to cut education. requirements for the position, a move that allows Hawkins to qualify.
Hawkins is still considered a candidate and is scheduled to be interviewed on May 31. But he claims the job.
“Pages turn and new chapters begin. I am looking forward to becoming the next president of South Florida State College,” Hawkins posted on Twitter Wednesday evening.
The board’s seven political officers are scheduled to vote on the university’s next president on June 7. Five of the trustees were appointed by DeSantis in 2020.
If the board formally approves Hawkins to replace retiring President Thomas C. Leitzel, it will mark the end of a seven-month presidential search and put a former Republican congressman at the helm of a public community college at a time when DeSantis is trying to aggressively reshape the state’s higher education system.
The university, which has its main campus in Avon Park, conducted a national search, attracted dozens of applicants and eventually landed Hawkins, a former Osceola County commissioner and state House representative twice elected. Hawkins, also a former rodeo cowboy who lives in St. Cloud, has led a K-12 education foundation in Osceola County since 2016, served on higher education legislative committees and many local associations and boards, including the County Charter Review Commission Osceola. .
His record also includes a 2020 arrest for impersonating a law enforcement officer. Prosecutors agreed to drop the charges if you completed a diversion program. DeSantis suspended him from being an Osceola County Commissioner because of the charges.
The Times/Herald reached out to Hawkins via text and phone calls for comment on his selection and the application process. He had not responded as of Thursday afternoon.
Questions of external influence
The events leading up to Hawkins’ selection have raised questions about whether the presidential search process was influenced by outside political forces.
The first signs came during an April 17 board meeting, when trustees were discussing the selection of one of three finalists for the university’s presidency. By the time the meeting ended, all the candidates had withdrawn, and one of the trustees, Joe Wright, “expressed his concern about serving on the board and the intervening issues that occurred,” according to a copy of the draft of the workshop minutes.
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All three finalists—Amy Bosley, John M. Davis, and Vicky Wood—had doctoral degrees and administrative experience at community colleges. Bosley is the vice president for institutional planning, development and chief of staff at Valencia College in Orlando; Davis is the vice president of administrative services at Germanna Community College in Locust Grove, Va., and Wood is the president of Washington State Community College in Marietta, Ohio.
At a May 3 meeting, the board voted to lower the education requirements to allow those without a terminal degree to apply. Successful applicants would still need “a combination of credentials and experience sufficient to command the respect and trust of a wide range of university constituencies,” board chairman Terry Atchley said, adding that “Candidates with a variety of leadership experiences are strongly encouraged to apply.”
On his resume, Hawkins lists a bachelor’s degree in pre-law and political science from the University of Akron and says he is “applying to the University of Florida’s online master’s program.” A UF spokesman did not immediately say whether he has already enrolled in the courses.
Political affiliations come into play
After the May 3 meeting, Councilman Louis Kirschner told a Tampa Bay Times reporter that he thought the three finalists who withdrew were “pretty good” but that he saw no problem with state officials stepping in in the selection process. Kirschner has served on the board since 1999 and is the chairman of the DeSoto County Republican Executive Committee.
“You have to understand that we are political appointees, and they were all Democrats,” Kirschner said of the three finalists. “The governor doesn’t appoint all the Republican councilors and expect us to select a Democrat.”
Political orientation may not have mattered 10 years ago, Kirschner said. But he said he doesn’t trust a left-leaning president to not bring “woke” ideology to his school leadership. Applicants need dedication not only to education, but also to the character and integrity of the school, he said.
When asked about the governor’s involvement in the selection process, DeSantis press secretary Bryan Griffin said the decision was up to the board of trustees, “but of course we support the selection of ‘a qualified person who is committed to truth and academics and not to a fashionable ideology. agendas’.
“The withdrawals did not indicate any intervention by the governor, and that’s really all we know,” university spokeswoman Melissa Kuehnle told the Times/Herald on Wednesday when asked about the three previous finalists.
Hawkins has close ties to the governor. He has served in the Florida House of Representatives since 2020, and DeSantis endorsed his re-election bid in 2022. Most recently, Hawkins championed legislation to implement DeSantis’ high-profile plan to take over the district special prosecutor for Disney after the company opposes Florida’s Parental Rights to Education Act, also known as the Don’t Say Gay bill.
Griffin did not respond Wednesday and Thursday when asked if the governor was endorsing Hawkins as a runner-up.
Criminal records and declarations of diversity
Hawkins has no teaching experience, but has served as president and CEO of the Osceola Education Foundation since 2016. In that role, he oversees scholarship programs, the operation of three charter schools, fundraising and community relations. community, according to Hawkins’ resume. and application
At a time when DeSantis is aggressively trying to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at institutions of higher education, it is noteworthy that Hawkins’ foundation prominently features an “Equity, Diversity and Inclusion” statement.
“Our strength comes from our diverse community and we celebrate the visible and invisible qualities that make each person unique, including race, gender and/or gender identity, age, sexuality, ability, religion, national origin and any other identity”. the statement says.
Hawkins, a longtime Osceola County commissioner, wrote in his application to be president of the state university that he will leave his position at the foundation to “continue to use my knowledge in education of another way”.
In his application, he also disclosed his criminal record. He was arrested in 2020 for impersonating a law enforcement officer to try to gain access to a meeting of a homeowners association he did not belong to. Hawkins was an Osceola County commissioner at the time and was suspended from office after the arrest.
Hawkins used his “special deputy” badge — an honorific title — and threatened to arrest a security guard who tried to block him from entering the courtroom, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. He had no arrest warrants and no one from the sheriff’s office had asked him to serve as a special deputy in the homeowner’s association election, law enforcement said.
Hawkins reached a plea deal in the case and went through a diversion program, court records show.
Tampa Bay Times reporter Ian Hodgson contributed to this report.
