Overview
- The University of Florida Board of Trustees unanimously selected Stuart Bell earlier this month and voted Monday to install him as interim president with a contract that begins July 1.
- Florida Board of Governors Chair Alan Levine removed Bell from a scheduled confirmation agenda, saying trustees had delegated excessive authority to UF Board Chair Mori Hosseini and that the university may be out of compliance with system rules.
- Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier’s office and outside counsel GrayRobinson have said the trustees were not out of compliance, and both boards agreed to hire a third-party governance expert to review practices across the system.
- Trustees set Bell’s interim package at about $2 million in annual pay with a $500,000 termination fee and other payout terms, and the move also preserves an existing $2 million payment tied to outgoing interim president Donald Landry’s contract.
- The clash follows last year’s Board of Governors rejection of UF’s prior finalist and reflects wider partisan fights over DEI and university control that could affect fundraising, project approvals, and the timing of a special Board of Governors meeting to reconsider Bell.