Students and faculty at Florida International University protested Thursday against the appointment of Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez as interim president at the school.
In an 11-to-one vote, Nuñez was appointed on Feb. 7 by the Board of Trustees — without conducting a formal search for other candidates. She was hired at the state-funded school at the request of the office of Gov. Ron DeSantis, according to the board's chairman.
Nuñez will enter her role as early as Feb. 17 after the state board of governors approves her appointment and an employment contract is finalized.
The appointment is one of the latest in a trend in Florida: Presidential candidates for public universities are increasingly politically connected leaders with little experience in higher education. At Florida Atlantic University, a former state Republican Majority Leader now heads the school.
It is this apparent increase in political interference, and some of the more contentious policies she supported as part of the DeSantis administration, that riled many of the students at the protest on FIU's main campus.
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Joselyn Peña, who helped stage the walkout for the Young Democratic Socialists of America at FIU, feels it’s important for students to show their disapproval with the pick.
"Even if it doesn't have any material change in one protest, the best we can do is… get people to see it in these public spaces, to show that we're not gonna stand for it,” Peña said.
They hit out at legislative challenges to diversity, equity, and inclusion measures and reproductive rights. "It makes sense that the next step is to get one of the largest employers in South Florida under this right wing takeover," Peña added.
Faculty members also joined the protest. Tania Cepero López, president of the United Faculty of Florida at FIU, said faculty objects to the lack of a broad national search for president.
"The faculty has been vocal about their disagreement with the way that interim president Nuñez was appointed," Cepero López said. "It was a total surprise for all of us. We see no need for this emergency appointment."
Cepero Lopez also said faculty is concerned the university is joining the broader context of a conservative push in Florida education, citing legislation banning Diversity, Equity and Inclusion on university campuses.
" Many members of our faculty are afraid, and with good reason, that this is just one more drop on a glass that is getting pretty full," Cepero Lopez said.
Some students held Israeli flags in opposition to the protest organized by YDSA at FIU.
" Nuñez is part of an administration with Ron DeSantis ... that was inherently supportive of the Jewish people and of Israelis," said freshman Ethan Bazak, who expressed support for the lieutenant governor leading the school.
DeSantis has been a major supporter of Israel, especially following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas militants who killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and abducted 251 hostages. The governor arranged to send drones, weapons and ammunition to Israel, ordered state universities to disband chapters of a pro-Palestinian student group and funded flights for about 700 Americans evacuated from Israel.
A fragile ceasefire agreement took hold recently following 16 months of war that left more than 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
