Manny Diaz Jr. likely to be UWF interim president. He confirms he is 'open' to idea
By Jim Little
Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. could become the University of West Florida’s interim president.
When asked about reports that he has been tapped to fill the position being vacated by UWF President Martha Saunders at a May 23 press conference in Pensacola, Diaz responded he would be open to the idea if that is the decision of UWF Board of Trustees.
“What I'll tell you is that the board is clearly meeting,” Diaz said. “That's a decision for the board to make, and if they were to call, I'd obviously be willing to have a conversation with them about that. But that's up to the Board of Trustees of the University of West Florida.”
Multiple officials, speaking to the News Journal on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the issue, have told the News Journal that Diaz is the top candidate being considered at the May 27 board of trustees meeting.
The board is set to vote on naming an interim president and a search firm to conduct a search for a permanent president. The interim president becoming the permanent president isn’t unprecedented, however.
Former Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez went from interim president of Florida International University to being named a finalist for the presidency after a three-month selection process.
Who is Manny Diaz Jr.?
Diaz is a former Florida legislator from Hialeah in Miami-Dade County. He served in the House from 2012 to 2018 and in the Senate from 2018 until 2022, when DeSantis recommended him as education commissioner and the Florida State Board of Education made it official.
Before entering politics, Diaz was a social studies teacher and baseball coach in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. He became an assistant principal and later chief operating officer at Doral College.
Diaz has a bachelor's degree from St. Thomas University, a master’s degree in education from Nova Southeastern University and completed a Harvard Graduate School of Education program for principals, according to his biography on the Florida Department of Education website.
During his time in the Senate, Diaz was a sponsor of the so called, "anti-woke" law that passed in 2022 that sought to ban employer-mandated diversity training. The law has been blocked by federal courts on grounds that it violates the First Amendment.
Diaz also sponsored legislation that expanded publicly funded vouchers for private schools in Florida.
Why did Martha Saunders resign?
Saunders resigned May 12 in the wake of a contentious board of trustees meeting where a newly appointed board of trustee member Zach Smith grilled Saunders about "diversity, equity and inclusion" issues he had identified when combing through UWF's social media.
Smith, who had been appointed by DeSantis only days earlier, pointed out two drag shows co-sponsored by the university, the first of which was held in 2019, and that the university library promoted Ibram K. Kendi’s book, “How to Be an Antiracist,” in February 2023.
The meeting followed months of contention in the Florida Legislator over Gov. Ron DeSantis' appointees to the UWF board and backlash to the appointments in Pensacola.
Ultimately, two of the appointees resigned from their seats on the board, and a third, Adam Kissel, was not confirmed by the Senate, though he remains on the board of trustees.
Saunders' contract requires 90 days written notice to the Board of Trustees, but that time may be waived by the board.
Saunders also has the opportunity, according to her contract, to return as a tenured professor in UWF's Department of Communication with a reduction in pay. With the position, the contract allows her to immediately take a year of professional development leave.
A committee of the board of trustees is set to meet on May 27, after the full trustee meeting, to conduct an annual performance review of Saunders as president.
During her time as president, Saunders championed the creation of more than 20 new academic programs, including offerings in cybersecurity, mechanical engineering and an Intelligent Systems and Robotics Ph.D. program in collaboration with the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition.
Some other UWF achievements under Saunders tutelage include:
- UWF became a top-performing public university in the Florida Board of Governors performance-based funding metrics
- Spearheaded the establishment of UWF’s Center for Cybersecurity
- Oversaw the development of Florida’s first bachelor’s in cybersecurity degree program designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity by the National Security Agency and U.S. Department of Homeland Security
- The launching of a civil engineering program this fall
- Construction of the Darrell Gooden Center, the Lab Sciences Annex and the Sandy Sansing Sports Medicine Center
- Ranking in the top 15 public regional institutions in the South by U.S. News and World Report Best Colleges for five consecutive years
- Multiple national military-friendly institution designations
- Grown UWF’s investment pool by 50%, providing financial stability and opportunities for future growth