“This. Is. Insane.” posted Florida Republican Senator Rick Scott almost immediately after the state’s Board of Governors voted 15-1 on July 1 to approve former University of Alabama president Stuart R. Bell as president of the University of Florida with immediate effect. Bell, who according to the Miami Herald will be paid $15 million under a five-year contract, has been heavily criticized for his decade-long tenure at Alabama, where he cratered that institution’s U.S. News & World Report ranking from 88^th place to 169^th among national universities. Bell presided over comprehensive DEI initiatives and made only cosmetic changes to the institution’s diversity programs and personnel in response to prohibitions under state law adopted in 2024.

Critics also noted possible irregularities in the hiring process, contract drafting, and other administrative decisions at UF. Board of Trustees Chairman Morteza “Mori” Hosseini, a real estate developer and major contributor to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, stands accused of wielding unwarranted and possibly even illegal authority. Scott’s ire was particularly raised by the severance package for UF’s outgoing interim president Donald Landry. Landry’s contract included a $2 million payment in addition to his one-year salary at that rate if he were not selected for the permanent position. According to a letter from Hosseini to Landry published on X, Landry will also receive a $500,000 bonus, bringing his total compensation for about nine months of work to $4.5 million. At UF’s in-state tuition rate published for the next academic year, that would be enough to finance four-year degrees for 176 students.

Back in the world of Florida politics, however, little institutional opposition stood in Bell’s path. Extensive criticism in the media and from Scott and other political leaders, including Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon, was largely ignored—apart from hysterical and unhinged outbursts in which Hosseini claimed that his critics were jealous, paid to write mean things, or had a personal axe to grind with him.

Bell and his defenders claimed that he promised not to restore “woke” to UF. Even if he wanted to accomplish that, they said state law would prevent him from doing so and that critics should ignore his appalling record at Alabama and damning testimony from faculty and alumni there. According to local news reports, Board of Governors Chairman Alan Levine did send inquiries to Florida university system chancellor Ray Rodrigues about the procedural matters and held up Bell’s vote for about a week. But ultimately, the feuding board chiefs agreed to punt the general procedural questions to an outside evaluator and cease delaying Bell’s confirmation. Levine himself voted for Bell after asking softball questions in the videorecorded meeting.

Just a year ago, Levine was one of the leading voices opposing former University of Michigan president Santa J. Ono, whom the Board of Governors rejected in a 10-6 vote for UF’s top job. Like Bell, Ono had also presided over a massive infusion of DEI policies and structures. He also unconvincingly disclaimed DEI after many years of promoting it.

A year later, however, things are different. Turnover on the Board of Governors appears to have favored people willing to look the other way on DEI, especially Hosseini, who, along with the rest of UF’s trustees, was angered by its rejection of Ono last year. Investigative reports by conservative activists at the CommiesOnCampus on X have pointed fingers at land deals and other possible ethics and nondisclosure violations.

Recapturing the flagship public institution of the state, where DeSantis used to say “woke goes to die,” is no small achievement in the pushback against conservative triumphs in the education reform movement. At least 54,000 UF students may now be evaluated by the color of their skin rather than their academic achievements. Millions of Florida voters cast their ballots against that policy in multiple elections, but those entrusted to stop it have ignored the wishes of the voters. At least there will be a few who will take the commitment seriously enough to monitor Bell’s activities while realizing that eternal vigilance is the ultimate price of liberty. To lose the battle is not to lose the war.