Florida AG asked to weigh in on presidential search

The Florida Board of Governors voted Friday to ask the state attorney general to weigh in on the Florida Atlantic University presidential search, which has been suspended for alleged anomalies. 

The board voted to seek a legal opinion on the use of a survey that sought demographic information about applicants, including questions on sexual orientation and gender identity. The voluntary survey was conducted by AGB Search, the firm hired to find FAU’s next president. 

Specifically, the board is asking the attorney general to weigh in on whether the use of the survey—which was not factored into the selection of finalists—failed to comply with state public records laws, according to a description of the agenda item in board documents.

The move comes amid growing concern about political influence and interference in Florida presidential searches. Republican politicians have been hired in executive roles at the University of Florida, New College of Florida and South Florida State College, and Governor Ron DeSantis was pushing Randy Fine, a state Republican lawmaker, for the FAU job.

The FAU search was suspended shortly after three finalists, excluding Fine, were named in July.

State University System chancellor Ray Rodrigues, a DeSantis ally and former GOP lawmaker, objected to the use of the survey in FAU’s search and an informal straw poll to rank candidates. University officials and AGB Search have both defended the integrity of the search.