5/26/26: Ilya Shapiro's Hot Mic Misdemeanor

A hot mic during a recess of the Florida Polytechnic University Board of Trustees meeting on May 22 caught Trustee Ilya Shapiro and Board Chair Beth Kigel knowingly violating Florida’s Sunshine’s Law, a second-degree misdemeanor.

The development is the latest in an escalating lawlessness at “Florida Poly” following the elimination of the Office of General Counsel in October 2025. Earlier that morning, Shapiro chaired a meeting of the “Governance, Audit and Compliance Committee” in which the complaints were ignored.

After the pair started to discuss the Bar Complaint and letters that Sanderson had sent to Shapiro (read the May 21 letter) Board Chair Kigel notices Shapiro’s mic is on, and points to it: “Get your mic there.”

Kigel then leans back in her chairs and continues to speak to Shapiro.

“This is a cover up,” said Sanderson. “It’s not a technical violation. The trustees know about the misconduct, they ignore it during the meeting that just happened, but as soon as they think they’re out of the sunshine, they start getting on the same page.”

The complaints followed a disastrous Board of Trustees meeting on April 30 that led Sanderson to file a Bar Complaint against the unqualified and unprepared “University Counsel.”

Shapiro’s position and the distinctive orange coat were posted by Stephenson after the meeting.

In the hot mic video, Shapiro also tells Kigel about an email Sanderson sent the previous night about a statement by the VP/CFO during the Finance Committee the previous day (the two-day meeting spanned May 21–22). On May 21, Florida Poly’s VP/CFO had stated that the university was spending a nonrecurring allocation received in 2025 over 3 years — an additional violation. (The Finance Committee video was not immediately available.)

Just after the recess starts, FPU’s Chief Compliance Officer approaches Shapiro. Shapiro says, almost immediately, “Do I have any concerns? No I don’t think I have any concerns, I want to understand what he’s saying.” Watch:

Ilya Shapiro tells the Chief Compliance Officer "I don’t think I have any concerns” within seconds of learning of Sanderson’s May 21 email. (Note: The Chief Compliance Officer is not a Board member, this is not a Sunshine Law violation, but is part of the cover-up).

“The walls are closing in at Florida Poly,” said Sanderson.

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Florida’s Open Meetings “Government in the Sunshine” Law jurisprudence has established that during a recess of official proceedings, inaudible conversations about business constitute cause the public “irreparable harm” Citizens for Sunshine Inc, v. City of Sarasota (2012).

Citizens for Sunshine Inc, v. City of Sarasota (2012), concerning a recess conversation between two board members.

While any violation of the Sunshine Law is a noncriminal infraction, a knowing violation is a 2nd degree misdemeanor. Sanderson added, “Ilya Shapiro is free to argue that he’s innocent of the criminal offense because he doesn’t know the law so good.”

Trying to get your misdemeanor Sunshine Law violation dropped down to a noncriminal infraction

Sunshine Law also provides for civil action, which could be used to demand external investigation. “That should be happening anyway,” said Sanderson.

Trustees Ilya Shapiro and Jesse Pannucio playing video games at Florida Poly’s E-sports studio earlier in 2026 (Image FPU Public Record under Chapter 112). The video game room was paid for with “President Discretionary” funds.

Reported misconduct now includes:

• May 22 “hot mic” Sunshine Law violations;

• Illegal use of nonrecurring spending over multiple years mentioned by VP/CFO;

• Bar Complaint against “University Counsel” for accepting a position in violation of multiple Bar rules;

• Complaint against President Stephenson for elimination of General Counsel, creation of “University Counsel” position, and hiring decision; and

• One other report of felony criminal conduct has not yet been made public.

In the May 22 meeting, Trustees Shapiro and Kigel were not the only members of the Board to be captured in streaming video and audio during the recess.

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Are you an employee or trustee of Florida Poly? Don't take legal advice from a website!

Employees of Florida Poly may also be interested in the following resources for white-collar criminal defense attorneys — and whistleblowers get better deals. Check out:

The Florida Bar Lawyer Referral Service

Orange County Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service

Hillsborough County Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service

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Watch: Disastrous Board Meeting at Florida University that Hired Unqualified Lobbyist to Replace General Counsel

Florida Polytechnic University, which last fall eliminated its Office of General Counsel supposedly to save money, debuted its replacement on April 30: a DeSantis-aligned anti-abortion lobbyist-lawyer with no experience called “University Counsel” who left trustees including Ilya Shapiro — themselves appointed by DeSantis — so frustrated by her lack of preparation that they declined to take action on the $1,800 tuition increase.

This is not normal.

A complaint filed with the Florida Bar, which regulates lawyer conduct, covers both the meeting and circumstances of the unqualified but politically-connected lawyer taking the job. Read the redacted complaint here.

Grasping for excuses, the unprepared DeSantis-fan at one point told Trustee Shapiro an excuse that a statute he'd asked about "was modified significantly in 2025." (It wasn't.) WATCH:

The President of Florida Polytechnic University eventually apologized to a visibly-frustrated Iyla Shapiro and other Trustees after the disastrous Board meeting in which trustees refused to vote. On the agenda was an $1800 tuition increase, meeting opened with 4 students making public comments about hardship.

The new in-house counsel arrived smiling mid-discussion nearly an hour into the meeting, which the Board Chair interrupted to announce "you come to us with very high praise.” The Board Chair’s broad smiles turned to dear-in-the-headlights shock as the DeSantis-fan "University Counsel" invented a state rule against phased-in tuition increases that one trustee called "odd."

When asked to explain, rambled about her invented rule like a student who hasn't done the reading. (The Florida Board of Governors approved a two-phase tuition increase in 2025 [WATCH at 1:17].) No one from the university either knew or tried to correct her on her made-up rule. WATCH:

Trustees ultimately declined to vote on the $1800 tuition increase, a delay that increased uncertainty for students.

Last October, President eliminated Office of General Counsel and fired 4 people, saying the move would reduce costs by moving to an "outsourcing" model, but new "University Counsel" has essentially the same responsibilities.

The Bar Complaint covers both the meeting and the circumstances of her hiring, which positioned the university’s primary in-house lawyer as being an employee of the President.

The full meeting is available at https://thefloridachannel.org/videos/4-30-26-florida-polytechnic-university-board-of-trustees-meeting/

FL Poly Comment 4/30/26: Accountability and the Truth

Thank you members of the Board. My name is Mike Sanderson.

First, about Gen Ed, I’m not going to have time to make a full comment, but I wanted to warn you that someone has been going around saying the Florida Legislature wants space exploration removed from the Gen Ed curriculum.

No, the Florida Legislature does not want space exploration removed from Gen Ed. The guy who wrote that has no STEM background whatsoever. Kind of a problem he has the made-up title “Chief Academic Officer.”

I traced the removal to the University of West Florida and the trustee who suggested that since has been rejected by the legislature for the second time. I invite you to read my letter to the Chair of the UWF Board of Trustees on my website, mikesand.com.

Moving to the accountability plan, my comment last year got quite a bit of attention. That was of course when I pulled the prior year accountability plans and found that for the 4-year graduation metric, you were lowering the goal for the current year for the third year in a row.

But then before the BOG met in June, you changed it back to 49%. Even though you you thought you weren’t going to make it. I know you thought that because during that BOG meeting at FAU Provost Thiessen told me.

Don’t be so hard on him, I said directly, “Brad, I know you know the min max for that graduation figure, what’s the min max.” President Stephenson saw me talking at the FL Poly staff table and came rushing over, but it was too late.

If you think the Provost shouldn’t have told me the min max for graduation because that’s some kind of state secret, i think you might want to step back and rethink your role as a public university trustee.

As an aside, too bad about the General Counsel office, I get saving money, not having in-house counsel seems like a false economy.

Anyway, returning to the Accountability Plan, the problem isn’t that you told me that, it’s that a few hours later President Stephenson didn’t tell the BOG Chair that.

In April 2024, two years ago, your former president wrote directly that Florida Poly expected to exceed 50% in 2025 (Page 7). Rather than telling the chair of the Board of Governors that you weren’t going to meet that goal and why, you just blah blah blah we have to do better.

Florida Poly’s 2024 Accountability Plan said 2021-25 Four-year Graduation Rate would be 50%

I know blaming COVID, and sounding like you’re throwing the former president under the bus for overpromising wouldn’t be well received at the BOG, but it’s the truth. Either that’s the truth or President Stephenson has really dropped the ball.

Finally, I invite you to check out last year’s Gender Studies ROI study. It was commissioned by the Chancellor but released by Anna Eskamani because it showed Gender Studies does have a good ROI. It also has a graph titled, “What you study matters more than where you study,” and it seems to show that Computer Science majors at Florida Poly make less money and are less likely to use their degree than even UWF or UNF. So that’s an important area for follow up.

Salary isn’t everything — I’m a computer programmer, I have gotten a great salary working on the iPhone app for Facebook for Dogs. That is not a joke, dogs don’t use the app but dogs have profiles, they follow other dogs, like other dogs’ photos, etc.

It’s safe to say that no one has ever been as excited for an Accountability Plan as I am for New College’s which of course has not bee released.

Good luck with all your goals. It’s too bad land acquisition isn’t a metric, amirite?

Letters March–April 2026: "Board of Governors"

Some recent letters sent to and concerning the “Board of Governors.” What the Board of Governors is, is a theme of the letters. Generally I post on a delay, because I am writing to the audience, but they are of course public records and of interest to others.

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Reason the Florida Board of Governors Exists

Moez Limayem, University of South Florida, President. April 12, 2026.

Re: Reason the Florida Board of Governors Exists.

Suggestion Legislature intended to remove Space Program from Gen Ed.

Rebecca Matthews, University of West Florida Board of Trustees, Chair. April 6, 2026.

Re: Suggestion Legislature intended to remove Space Program from Gen Ed.

Misinformation about ‘Board of Governors’ and Sociology Curriculum

Kimberly Dunn, Advisory Council of Faculty Senates, Chair; Board of Governors faculty representative. March 22, 2026.

Re: Misinformation about ‘Board of Governors’ and Sociology Curriculum.

“Florida Educational Equity Act” and Sociology Curriculum

Anastasios “Stasi” Kamoutsas, Commission of Education; Board of Governors Department of Education representative. March 22, 2026.

Re: “Florida Educational Equity Act” and Sociology Curriculum.

Disclosure of Nonpublic Information

Ethics Complaint Filed Against Florida’s Chief Academic Officer for Substack Newsletter that Discloses Nonpublic Information to Paid Subscribers

Jason Jewell, Chief Academic Officer at the Florida Board of Governors, uses his official title and apparently profits personally from his Substack

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA, March 31 — A sworn complaint with the Florida Commission on Ethics was submitted on Tuesday against the Chief Academic Officer at the Florida Board of Governors (which oversees the State University System) over use of his title and extensive nonpublic information on his paid Substack.

Jason Jewell, who has been Chief Academic Officer at the Florida Board of Governors since January 2025, has used nonpublic information in posts accessible only to his paid subscribers, information that is not available to members of the general public and that he gained by reason of his official position.

In May 2025, Jewell wrote “this job is giving me a front-row seat to all kinds of things.”

Mike Sanderson, who swore and filed the complaint with the Florida Commission on Ethics, wrote “The assistant city manager of any podunk beach town knows: if your job gives you, ‘a front row seat to all kinds of things’—in Florida it probably does—you can’t take info you get as a public employee, put it behind a paywall and make money.”

The sworn complaint states, “Nonpublic information posted by Respondent also includes details of his official activities, official travel, site visits to universities, meetings attended, conferences attended, accounts of Board of Governors meetings, sources of policy ideas, comments on articles … specific policy ideas that could be implemented or presented to the legislature, and so on. Nonpublic activities of the Chancellor and other Board Office employees are also mentioned.”

Advisory opinion 23-5 by the Commission on Ethics addressed this scenario

The primary violation Jewell has committed is specified in Section 112.313(8), Florida Statutes, forbidding disclosure of nonpublic information learned from a public job for personal gain. This violation does not require corrupt intent.

The Florida Commission on Ethics Guide to the Code of Ethics for Public Employees lists the violations under “III. THE ETHICS LAWS. A. A. Prohibited Actions or Conduct. 6. Disclosure or Use of Certain Information.” Jewell’s use of his title may also violate “5. Abuse of Public Position.” (Numbers 5. and 6. refer to headings under III. A. in the Commission on Ethics Guide.)

Getting an online notary in in Florida was a coincidence, never mind in Lee County. I swear.

SANDERSON MENTIONED AT MARCH 26 BOARD OF GOVERNORS MEETING

Sanderson’s familiarity with the Board of Governors and vice-versa was further reinforced at the meeting on March 26, 2026. Board of Governors Chair Alan Levine expressed astonishment after being told Sanderson was not making a public comment.

“What?” Board of Governors Chair Levine said. “Let the record reflect that our friend Mike Sanderson is not speaking publicly.”

Levine's comment prompted laughter in the room.

“I assume I'll get an email or something from him,” Levine added. “He’s very good at providing input.”

Swearing the oath for the complaint to Florida Commission on Ethics

SANDERSON: JEWELL “OVERPROMOTED” “TOO NAÏVE TO HAVE CORRUPT INTENT”

At the end of 2024, Jason Jewell had been a professor of humanities at a small private college in Alabama for 20 years. His biggest responsibilities had been as chair of the humanities department and administering an online great-books program.

In January 2025, Jewell was suddenly elevated to the highest level of the State University System of Florida. His position has no public job description, and Jewell has no biography on flbog.edu.

Sanderson added, “He’s one of the most senior policymakers in the State University System, and since it’s a new position with no public information about it, I had to pay him personally to learn what Florida’s Chief Academic Officer actually does.”

“He was overpromoted,” said Sanderson. “I think he genuinely doesn’t realize that legitimately holding a job like that would make someone’s travel, meetings, opinions and perspectives extremely valuable information. He’s too naive to have corrupt intent.”

In the complaint Sanderson wrote, “corrupt intent is overwhelmed by the impression of a naif, a naif who received inadequate ethics training.”

“Chancellor Ray Rodrigues has some explaining to do why he picked a professor of humanities who’s never run anything bigger than an online great-books program for the job of Chief Academic Officer of Florida’s state universities,’” Sanderson added.

In other places on Jewell’s Substack, it is abundantly, painfully clear he lacks experience in Florida. In the same post Jewell wrote he has “a front row seat,” he also wrote: “I can only assume that things will get somewhat normal at some point.”

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Mike Sanderson is a graduate of Miami Palmetto Senior High and New College of Florida. Sanderson is a writer and computer programmer and lives in Brooklyn, New York.

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NCF BOT Comment 2/12/26: Willful and Wanton Disregard

My name Mike Sanderson. I entered New College in 1999. I’m speaking on Richard Corcoran’s bonus. My full comment and supporting documents are at Mike Sand dot com.

As some of you know, in 2025 I went to all the Board of Governors meetings. They are laughing at Corcoran at the BOG. They have the real metrics and know his failure. Fewer freshmen than in Fall 2022.

That Corcoran’s getting tens of millions more from the state makes it worse. I have the raw budget data from the BOG. There are obvious falsehoods and massive discrepancies, including in funds for the general counsel’s office.

The athletics program is illegally funded with E&G. At the Audit committee last week, Tzmouas didn’t tell you he put false information in an email copied to the BOG inspector general, which I noted immediately. Mike sand dot com links to the proof.

I am formally submitting this, and if you don’t get an independent opinion on Tzmouas, the budget and athletics spending, it’s hard to see how you avoid charges of conscious indifference, willful and wanton disregard for property. thank you.

Richard Corcoran at the BOG: The Top 6 Humiliations

If you aren’t in the room to see the Board of Governors interact with Richard Cocoran, you might not realize the extent to which people are laughing at him — often literally. In addition to laughing, there’s gasping, grimacing, scowling, and poker face. But laughter is common, and the through line is the humiliations.

6.

October 2024, Miami: “I don’t see President Corcorcan”

Richard Corcoran scrambles in Miami

At most meetings, Corcoran prefers to spend his time out in the hall. At the October 2024 meeting in Miami, it just so happened that was when Chair Lamb wanted to chat about the struggles NCF is having.

Clip (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vMW3Ql0cMQ

5.

January 2025, JAcksonville: Athletics spending “violation of Board of Governors Rule”

In a Budget Committee athletics-funding discussion, former Budget Committee Chair Eric Silagy tells the meeting that the NCF Board of Governors documents showing $1.5 million of E&G spending on athletics must be a mistake because “that’s a violation of Board of Governors rule.” It was not a mistake.

NCF Budget Documents FY 2024-25 - $1.5 million E&G for Athletics

Original: https://thefloridachannel.org/videos/1-30-25-florida-board-of-governors-meeting/

Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPctjUv5ep0

4.

December 2024, Zoom: “Not the opinion of the Board of Governors”

In the December 2024 Zoom meeting, Governor Jones made a comment that New College was “the best for last.” Governor Levine made a totally gratuitous crack “the best for last” was “not the opinion of the Board of Governors.”

3.

June 2025, Boca Raton: Does that mean you’re paying students $19,000 A year to attend?

In Boca Raton, Governor Dunn had a question about the negative sign in front of the cost-per-student of -$19,000. “Does that mean you’re paying students $19,000 a year to attend?” Following the gasp, what followed was a rambling, 5-minute monologue that touched on all aspects of American higher education, investment, and nonsense.

2.

June 2025, Boca Raton Part 2: “Blah blah Williams! Amherst! Startup! Liberal Arts! Incredible Growth!”

Coming several hours after Corcoran’s monologue, Mike Sanderson’s public comment mocked the nonsense of Corcoran’s comment — and dropped “my most colorful report yet.” What was the question Corcoran was asked? (The negative -$19,000 cost per student is what he had been asked about.)

1.

Nov 2025, Tampa: DOGE REPORT ‘Giving CORCORAN THE FINGER’

When the report on efficiency in the state universities was presented, the operating cost per student was so high for New College that one observer called it “giving Corcoran the finger.” From the laughter from the center the table, to grimacing around the edges, to Silagy leaning in, to the scowls from the NCF VPs in the audience, the failure of Richard Corcoran was literally 10 feet high.