{"id":905,"date":"2026-05-23T16:31:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T16:31:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=905"},"modified":"2026-05-23T16:31:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T16:31:28","slug":"uf-fires-back-at-scott-says-presidential-pick-fits-trumps-education-agenda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=905","title":{"rendered":"UF fires back at Scott, says presidential pick fits Trump\u2019s education agenda"},"content":{"rendered":"
Tallahassee<\/span><\/p>\n

The University of Florida mounted a strikingly aggressive public defense of its presidential search Friday night, forcefully rebutting criticisms from U.S. Sen. Rick Scott while simultaneously aligning presidential finalist Stuart Bell with the Trump administration\u2019s education agenda.<\/p>\n

Read more Man taking a walk says he didn\u2019t know he had been shot, Miami-Dade deputies say<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In back-to-back posts, UF\u2019s official X account issued direct responses to remarks from Scott and U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon \u2014 an unusual posture for a public university that has avoided openly weighing in on comments from prominent Republican officials.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

McMahon\u2019s post earlier on Friday had amplified a scathing letter from Scott criticizing UF\u2019s presidential search as overly secretive and bashed the university over the substantial $2 million severance payout now owed to outgoing Interim President Donald Landry.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Scott notably did not criticize Bell over DEI, unlike the conservative attacks that doomed former UF finalist Santa Ono last year. But McMahon\u2019s intervention arrived as conservative activists increasingly scrutinized Bell\u2019s record on diversity initiatives during his decade leading the University of Alabama.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In an extraordinary move, President Donald Trump\u2019s top education official publicly signaled the ideological expectations for the next leader of Florida\u2019s flagship university. \u201cFlorida has led the fight to get discriminatory DEI out of our schools and universities,\u201d McMahon said. \u201cUF deserves a president who will continue to drive those reforms.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

UF\u2019s response boiled down to this: Bell fits the bill.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201c@EDSecMcMahon is correct. DEI is discriminatory by design, antithetical to the purpose of a university, and incompatible with the pursuit of truth,\u201d the university wrote. \u201cDr. Stuart Bell stands with Secretary McMahon, the Board, and the people of Florida on this. He is ready to lead UF forward as a university defined by merit, rigor, and the pursuit of truth.\u201c<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In a separate response to Scott, UF said it was \u201ccategorically untrue\u201d that the university violated state law to shield the search from public scrutiny, arguing confidentiality is necessary to attract top candidates and noting that a 2022 state law explicitly allows search committee deliberations and interviews to remain private during the early phases of a presidential search.<\/p>\n

Read more Former NFL star takes flight with Air Force Thunderbirds ahead of Air & Sea Show<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The double-barreled response underscored how much more forcefully UF is promoting Bell than it did Ono, the former University of Michigan leader whose failed UF presidential candidacy unraveled amid fierce conservative backlash over his past support for DEI initiatives.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Unlike Ono\u2019s bid \u2014 which UF leaders initially defended cautiously through procedural statements and newspaper columns \u2014 university leaders now appear to be rolling out a far more coordinated public campaign on Bell\u2019s behalf. Staffers for Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has endorsed Bell as \u201ca great selection,\u201d circulated UF\u2019s social media responses to Scott and McMahon.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

UF also used its response to McMahon to tout the university\u2019s embrace of higher education policies embraced by Republicans, including \u201cinstitutional neutrality\u201d rules discouraging university leaders from weighing in on political issues. The university further highlighted anti-DEI provisions embedded into its presidential contracts, saying they ensure \u201cno university funds, public or private, will underwrite DEI at this institution.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Scott fired back Saturday, dismissing UF\u2019s explanation of the search process as evasive.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cUF\u2019s lawyers have put together a fine crock of legalese that does absolutely NOTHING to answer the questions the people are asking about this candidate search,\u201d Scott wrote on X.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cThe multimillion-dollar amount, lack of transparency, and lopsided process here ALL still speak for themselves. Not to mention that this all appears to be a sham since the school is acting as if the new presidency is a foregone conclusion,\u201d Scott said. \u201cThe questions raised still stand, and they NEED to be answered.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Florida anti-DEI law will end public funding for Haitian Heritage Month, other events<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Florida\u2019s flagship university aggressively supports Stuart Bell, counters calls for transparency from Rick Scott, and highlights anti\u2011DEI contract provisions and neutrality rules.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nUF fires back at Scott, says presidential pick fits Trump\u2019s education agenda - Florida Moving Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=905\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UF fires back at Scott, says presidential pick fits Trump\u2019s education agenda - Florida Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Florida\u2019s flagship university aggressively supports Stuart Bell, counters calls for transparency from Rick Scott, and highlights anti\u2011DEI contract provisions and neutrality rules.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=905\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Florida Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-23T16:31:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=905#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=905\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/482f60b6a0b7cc84b37966d78057552f\"},\"headline\":\"UF fires back at Scott, says presidential pick fits Trump\u2019s education agenda\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-23T16:31:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=905\"},\"wordCount\":662,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=905#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b7f35dcab58bf131887834212952a7dc.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=905#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=905\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=905\",\"name\":\"UF fires back at Scott, says presidential pick fits Trump\u2019s education agenda - Florida Moving Chronicle\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=905#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=905#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b7f35dcab58bf131887834212952a7dc.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-23T16:31:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/482f60b6a0b7cc84b37966d78057552f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=905#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=905\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=905#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b7f35dcab58bf131887834212952a7dc.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b7f35dcab58bf131887834212952a7dc.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":674},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=905#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"UF fires back at Scott, says presidential pick fits Trump\u2019s education agenda\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Florida Moving Chronicle\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/482f60b6a0b7cc84b37966d78057552f\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"UF fires back at Scott, says presidential pick fits Trump\u2019s education agenda - Florida Moving Chronicle","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=905","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"UF fires back at Scott, says presidential pick fits Trump\u2019s education agenda - Florida Moving Chronicle","og_description":"Florida\u2019s flagship university aggressively supports Stuart Bell, counters calls for transparency from Rick Scott, and highlights anti\u2011DEI contract provisions and neutrality rules.","og_url":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=905","og_site_name":"Florida Moving Chronicle","article_published_time":"2026-05-23T16:31:28+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=905#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=905"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/482f60b6a0b7cc84b37966d78057552f"},"headline":"UF fires back at Scott, says presidential pick fits Trump\u2019s education agenda","datePublished":"2026-05-23T16:31:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=905"},"wordCount":662,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=905#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b7f35dcab58bf131887834212952a7dc.jpg","articleSection":["Politics"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=905#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=905","url":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=905","name":"UF fires back at Scott, says presidential pick fits Trump\u2019s education agenda - Florida Moving Chronicle","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=905#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=905#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b7f35dcab58bf131887834212952a7dc.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-23T16:31:28+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/482f60b6a0b7cc84b37966d78057552f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=905#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=905"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=905#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b7f35dcab58bf131887834212952a7dc.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b7f35dcab58bf131887834212952a7dc.jpg","width":1200,"height":674},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=905#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"UF fires back at Scott, says presidential pick fits Trump\u2019s education agenda"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/","name":"Florida Moving Chronicle","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/482f60b6a0b7cc84b37966d78057552f","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com"],"url":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}