(May differ from delivered.)
My name is Mike Sanderson, My full comment is available at Mike Sand dot com. Many of you know me through my involvement with the Board of Governors. I went to New College and grew up in Miami, so innumerable family and friends attended UF. Up front, I thank the Board for quickly pivoting to the interim appointment of Dr. Bell and I thank Dr. Bell for accepting it. I wish I was addressing the UF Board of Trustees for the first time under better circumstances.
Since have been involved with the Board of Governors, the main part concerns the letter by the Chair of the Board of Governors, Alan Levine, on why he has held up the appointment of President-Designate Bell. I am shocked by this letter. I thought Alan Levine was smarter, or at least I thought he thought the public was smarter. There’s three main aspects to his governance complaint in my opinion.
First, the clause in Interim Prescient Landry’s contract that’s so objectionable was approved the Board of Governors, during the meeting held on September 11, 2025, at New College. The Chair saw it, the Vice Chair saw it, the Chancellor saw it, the General Counsel saw it, the full board saw it, the public saw it. Of course someone can change their mind but that’s not what Chair Levine is claiming. He’s saying he just now observed it. He then broadens his objection to practices that have been in place for year. He’s saying he just now noticed and it’s a crisis. Alan joined the BOG in what, 2014?
Then there’s the absurdity of the letter itself. Absurdity. A Board Chair acting unilaterally declares Board Chairs acting unilaterally are out of compliance.
As an aside, where was Alan Levine when New College gave its Board Chair the power to make multiple appointments to the Foundation Board? Returning to the current year, in February, Chair Levine sent a letter to the medical school accreditors as Chair despite having just told the Board the matter would be handled by Governor Good’s committee. That’s an external communication the full Board had no idea was coming.
Finally about Chair consent for agenda items, while the Board of Governors operating procedures do say items are placed on the Agenda with the Chair’s consent, there doesn’t need to be a clause declaring the Chair can’t refuse everything for a university until the university agrees with his personal determination declaration the university is out of compliance. It’s an arbitrary and capricious abuse of authority.
Whatever anyone thinks about the substance of the complaints, Chair Levine’s arbitrary and capricious abuse of authority is far, far worse for governance than anything he is allegedly addressing. As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, I will quote a later document, Federalist 51: Ambition must be made to counter ambition. I think the UF Board of Trustees needs to start the process, today, of taking legal action against the arbitrary and capricious abuse of authority by Chair Levine. It’s just business, although it’s of grave importance.
Regarding the allegations of misconduct, including the quote-unquote review of allegations, I will repeat my warning from September 11 to Interim President Landry: In Florida, audits are weapons, and an audit or a finding just means someone with authority wanted to splatter some mud. I have a complaint against Jason Jewell at the Florida Commission on Ethics. Those complaints have to be sworn and notarized, and I did.
Finally, I will add that this is not about DEI. At New College, in February 2023, I endorsed the elimination of DEI. It was minutes after Alan Levine, then mere Governor, was at the podium to lecture about fiduciary responsibility. Kind of a role-reversal from what you expect.
But regarding DEI, some of the most odious people, who care nothing about Florida students or Florida institutions, are now weighing in on this search. You might think I mean Christopher Rufo, and I do. His term as New College trustee ended in December 2025, he slinked away without even a post. Just absolutely shameless that he’s back, weeks after he was mocked on premium cable, claiming to have secret information. Then there’s Bob Allen, of the Palm Beach Freedom Institute, a New College alum I have known since he became a trustee of New College in 2002. He was then, what we now euphemistically call a “low empathy” person.
Alan Levine is a known quantity — a known quality, but also a known quantity. Aside from litigation, the UF Board of Trustees should be clear that if Alan Levine or the Chancellor want to plunge UF into more chaos on such a selective basis, nakedly kicking up smoke over something they passed 8 months ago, he gets to own it, and it will not be forgotten.
