UF Trustees Unanimously Appoint Stuart Bell as Interim President
Final approval by the Florida Board of Governors will decide whether Bell's past management of university diversity efforts aligns with Florida's restrictions on state-funded DEI.
Overview
- The University of Florida Board of Trustees voted unanimously to name Stuart R. Bell as interim president, forwarding the appointment to the Florida Board of Governors for final ratification.
- Bell has publicly said he will not "bring DEI" to Gainesville and has expressed support for Governor Ron DeSantis's higher education reforms.
- Reporting by Accuracy in Media says an undercover video shows University of Alabama administrators discussing ways DEI-like work continued after state limits, a claim AIM and its president link to Bell's tenure.
- Bell created a formal diversity officer role in 2015 and launched an Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in 2017 at the University of Alabama, later reorganizing those functions after state restrictions took effect.
- The appointment has drawn sharp political attention, with DeSantis congratulating Bell and some conservative figures urging UF leaders and the Board of Governors to reject him, a decision that could shape oversight and campus policy at Florida's flagship university.