A search for the next president of Florida Atlantic University had narrowed its pool of candidates to just three—winnowing out a favorite of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Then, the whole thing got called off by the state’s Board of Governors. Ray Rodrigues, chancellor of the state’s university system, raised alarms about alleged improprieties in the process, but Democrats in the state suspect something else is going on, the Tallahassee Democrat reported. “DeSantis ally Randy Fine did not make the final selection for FAU President so now DeSantis appointed Board of Governors (BOG) who oversee the State University System are freezing the entire search process,” Democratic state Rep. Anna Eskamani tweeted, referencing DeSantis’ favored applicant, Republican state Rep. Randy Fine. The recently selected finalists for the role included the former chancellor of the University of North Carolina Wilmington and the superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy.
