Manny Diaz Jr. selected as interim UWF President despite concerns

Florida students’ reading scores have declined to their lowest point in over 25 years while math scores fell to their lowest in 20 years, prompting 'surprise and dismay' from Commissioner Manny Diaz, according to national data.

Despite two trustees pushing back and raising concerns about a lack of transparency, the University of West Florida trustees have named Manny Diaz Jr. as the school’s interim president.

The UWF Board of Trustees voted to hire Diaz — a Gov. Ron DeSantis ally and the previous Education Commissioner  — during a special 90-minute meeting Tuesday morning.

Diaz’s salary has yet to be negotiated, school spokesperson Brittany Sherwood said. His appointment takes effect July 14.

Against the criticism, Trustee Chair Rebecca Matthews argued Diaz is the right man for the job, pointing to his career as a social studies teacher and basketball coach in Miami-Dade County that eventually led to Diaz becoming a nationally-respected leader in education. 

“Commissioner Diaz is high energy,” Matthews said. “He’s a tireless leader and an advocate with endless ideas to brainstorm. His vision, his foresight, his strong ability to implement has been proven time and again, and uniquely, he does all of this with balance and a steady hand.”

But Trustee Alonzie Scott questioned whether Diaz’s selection had been made in violation of Florida’s Sunshine Laws. 

Scott called it a “travesty in terms of how we operate” and said “it’s a slap in the face” to the process, which he said concluded at “a facade of a meeting.”

“It’s certainly a disservice to the community of Northwest Florida,” Scott said adding, “I don’t know any place in any job that I’ve ever had in my entire career where you select one person and you still give them to a board and make that be the only choice.”

Scott pushed Matthews to go into details about who she spoke with to pick Diaz.

“You said there was discussion about Manny Diaz. Well, who had that discussion?” Scott asked. “Because I thought that’s part of what the board was supposed to do.”

“I certainly talked to the candidate himself, Manny Diaz Jr., to see if he’d be interested in it. I’ve talked to a lot of folks about him in terms of being a possible candidate,” Matthews replied. “Many folks — folks in the community, folks at the Board of Governors, folks in the administration, you name it. … I don’t feel as if I need to run through that list today to be candid with you.”

Trustee and Faculty Senate President Susan James, who joined Scott in voting against Diaz, pointed out she only received Diaz’s resume on Monday, the Memorial Day holiday.

She questioned why somebody inside UWF wasn’t chosen to be the interim president while the school searched for a new president.

“There was a lot of thought that went into this, but ultimately today, we’re bringing up Manny Diaz Jr. as the interim,” Matthews answered.

Diaz spoke briefly at the meeting, pledging to have an open-door policy with trustees.

“I’m not saying we’re always going to agree on everything,” Diaz said. “I would definitely love to have those conversations, because I think with communication, you eliminate some of those fears that naturally come with the unknown.”

The board also accepted the resignation of UWF President Martha Saunders during the meeting. Trustee Ashley Ross praised Diaz as her replacement.

“UWF is lucky to have someone of his caliber be able to lead us at this point in time and during this transition,” she said.

Saunders is leaving amid tensions with the newly appointed board.

Jerry Maygarden, the former state House Majority Leader and ex-Pensacola Mayor, warned an extended hiring process could hurt the next president’s chances of success, and the stakes are high to improve the school’s enrollment, philanthropy and recruitment of quality faculty. 

“We have been hearing that Commissioner Diaz will be the next president of UWF, and that may very well be true, but if you name him the interim president, you will shut down the applicant pool —  yes, you’ll get applicants, but they will not be the crème de la crème,” said Maygarden, a UWF alum, during public comment Tuesday. “Top drawer candidates will not want to sacrifice their current positions for a political process that appears to be as one Tallahassee insider said ‘a done deal.’”

“If Commissioner Diaz wants to be president, let him make an application like everyone else. Then if you select him president, and you certainly have the votes, so be it.”

Diaz’s new job comes at a time when several of Florida’s schools are hiring top leaders that are drawing controversy. University of Florida trustees will be voting on Santa Ono Tuesday, and Florida A&M University hired DeSantis ally Marva Johnson earlier this month.

A bill that would have made hiring university presidents more transparent died in the Senate this Session. The House passed the measure that would remove the public records exemption for all presidential candidates under the Florida Sunshine Law and forbid DeSantis from interfering and discussing presidential selections with a university board or the Florida Board of Governors. The bill then failed to reach the Senate floor for a final vote.