UF trustees unanimous in backing former Alabama president

Stuart Bell gained unanimous support from University of Florida trustees Wednesday, moving him a step closer to becoming permanent president in Gainesville, the first to hold that post since summer 2024. 

Bell fielded questions from trustees for two hours, answering on topics ranging from fundraising, building projects, student success, athletics, and the sticking point in the previous presidential search – diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

The state’s investment in higher education is “rare,” Bell said.

“Looking at what the University of Florida is doing, their goals based on merit, their goals based on excellence, their goals based on achievement. That is the environment that I want to work in,” Bell said. “I want to take a university from being a great university to being the very best university.”

Bell repeated a headline-generating statement he made last week — that he is not vying for the top Gator role to bring “woke” back — and pledged allegiance to Florida’s higher education policies. 

The long-serving chair of the UF board, Mori Hosseini, said Bell did an “amazing job” answering the questions.

Rahul Patel, chair of the presidential search committee and vice chair of the UF board, responded to public criticisms that the search was not transparent. 

“To suggest that we and our committee needed to be more transparent would be to suggest that our committee violate Florida law,” Patel said. 

Last month, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott wrote a letter to UF deriding the process. 

Prospective UF president faces a trio of forums next week

Bell was president of University of Alabama and of the Southeastern Conference. Both of those institutions are among the most highly regarded in college football. 

In an ever-changing college athletics landscape, with athletes profiting on name, image, and likenesses and transferring more than ever, Bell pitched himself as the man with a plan. 

“I do not believe there is another president who is more in tune with what’s been going on in the national scene of athletics than myself,” Bell said. 

Throughout the interview, Bell pointed to his decades of experience in higher education as a professor, dean, provost, and president, spanning from Texas to Kansas to Louisiana to Alabama, giving him an eye to what faculty want.

“Being able to attract the best faculty is one of the most important tasks that we have before us,” Bell said.

The last UF search ended when the Board of Governors rejected a candidate UF trustees had likewise given their unanimous support.

“This board is not going to give in. We are going to do the right thing,” Hosseini said, talking about outside voices criticizing UF. “This board is going to do the right thing.”

Keith Perry, a former state senator and sitting member of the Board of Governors, spoke in support of Bell during the public comment period of the trustee meeting. Also speaking during public comment were student leaders, all in support. 

Last week, during an afternoon of faculty, staff, and student forums, Bell addressed questions raised by critics and alumni on social media about his position on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Bell made clear early in the afternoon that he endorses “reshaping higher education, refocusing on student achievement, academic excellence, and the alignment of the values of the people in the state of Florida.”

He emphasized: “Well, and let me just start off and be crystal clear. I’m certainly not coming to Florida to bring DEI or any form of woke back. Period.”

Florida has passed laws in recent years banning “identity politics,” among other things, in general education courses and prohibiting state spending on DEI.

During Bell’s time in Alabama, the university in 2017 opened the Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. He shuttered it in 2024 to comply with an Alabama law that banned state or municipality support for DEI.

After the Alabama law took effect, Bell replaced that division with a Division of Opportunities, Connections, and Success, designated to help individuals work with others from various backgrounds. He led the university for 10 years before retiring last year.

Bell said last week that Alabama lawmakers were content with the steps he took to comply with the law.