(C) Florida Phoenix This story was originally published by Florida Phoenix and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . State orders Florida Atlantic University to restart presidential search after investigation [1] ['Christian Casale', 'More From Author', '- December'] Date: 2023-12-15 After months of back and forth between Florida Atlantic University and Florida education officials, the state has ordered the university to reboot its presidential search following an investigation by the university system. Julie Leftheris, inspector general of the university system, presented her final report to the governors during a meeting Thursday. “Our review found areas in which the FAU presidential search was out of compliance with state law and board of governors regulations,” Leftheris said. The report alleged several violations by the FAU search committee. The first was an anonymous survey of the search committee to identify potential candidates, ordered by Brad Levine, chair of the FAU Board of Trustees and head of the search committee, and conducted by AGB Search, a firm hired by FAU. The report said the survey anonymity was against standard practice and of questionable legality, citing Florida’s Sunshine Law. An opinion by the Office of the Attorney General issued on Oct. 30 found that “the Sunshine Law prohibits ranking that occurs by way of anonymously surveying and organizing members’ input, even if those rankings are not a final vote and are only used to replace or limit discussion at a future meeting.” The report also alleged instances when the search violated Board of Governors Regulation 1.002 on “Presidential Search and Selection” by exceeding the 15-member limit on the search committee and not vetting applicants until after some were rejected. “Failure to follow this regulation also resulted in two semifinalists being interviewed before the Presidential Search Committee was notified of the availability of completed due diligence,” the report said. The report did, however, recommend the governors update the regulation to provide more direction to universities. In July, University System Chancellor Ray Rodrigues wrote to Levine that his office had received complaints about the conduct of the search. One anonymous complaint alleged a candidate had been asked about his sexual orientation, whether he was a “male or transgender male,” and what his preferred pronouns were. “These inquiries are wholly irrelevant, inappropriate, and potentially illegal, ” Rodrigues wrote, linking to a U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission statute. The report found that any diversity questioning of candidates throughout the process “does not rise to a violation of law.” Op-ed criticized The report also said a collaboration by FAU officials to assist search committee member Dick Schmidt write an opinion piece called “Suspension of FAU presidential search is a bad decision,” violated a signed non-disclosure agreement. In his op-ed, published in multiple Florida outlets, Schmidt said the state’s interference in FAU’s presidential search had made it clear that “the intersection of politics and academia is at the same time both fragile and dangerous.” “I feel personally outraged and slandered by the implications of the chancellor’s letter on me and my colleagues, for what appears to be an attempt to unwind our successful, hard work and reopen a search for a candidate more to the liking of certain politicians,” Schmidt wrote. The report alleges that Levine, along with FAU Vice President & General Counsel David Kian and Vice President of Public Affairs Peter Hull, knew about Schmidt’s intention to write the piece and provided feedback on revisions and outlets to submit to. The report even raised questions about Levine’s competence, recommending the governors consider whether he should be allowed to run FAU’s next presidential search “given his involvement and oversight of the search process assessed by this investigative review.” The Inspector General’s office reviewed more than 5,000 emails and 500 documents, reviewed 34 hours of footage from FAU and Florida Board of Governors meetings, and conducted 29 interviews, according to Leftheris. After reviewing the report, the governors voted unanimously to order FAU to begin the search again. Three original candidates The search in July came up with three candidates who have spent months in a holding pattern: Jose Startarelli, former chancellor of the University of North Carolina Wilmington, Vice Admiral Sean Buck, superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy, and Michael Hartline, dean of the College of Business at Florida State University. Florida Rep. Randy Fine, the controversial Republican who represents part of Brevard County, embroiled himself in the FAU controversy when he said in March that Gov. Ron DeSantis approached him about the presidential position. This came at a time when Florida universities are seeing their presidents’ offices and boards of trustees stocked with conservative politicians and donors. Fine did not ultimately make the cut in the group of finalists. His likelihood to receive support from DeSantis, his one-time ally, is likely buried six feet under after he endorsed Donald Trump for president, writing in an editorial for The Washington Times after the 10/7 Hamas attack on Israel that “while Gov. DeSantis talks about defending Israel and Jewish Floridians, Trump has done so in more ways than just rhetoric.” The website for FAU’s presidential search was updated Friday afternoon to say that the university would provide fresh information about the selection process when it becomes available. “Following a written request from the Chancellor of the Florida State University System Board of Governors, FAU Board of Trustees Chair Brad Levine has agreed to suspend the university’s presidential search until further notice. As such, the candidate’s campus visits and open forums scheduled for next week are canceled,” the statement said. 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