Latest news with #Hasner
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
FAU police seeks immigration enforcement authority to question, detain people
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton. Credit: FAU Florida Atlantic University's police department has a pending agreement with the federal government that would allow campus officers to question and detain people they suspect are in the country without authorization. The public university in Boca Raton could be the first to enter such an agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which lists the campus police department as one of 75 entities that have submitted paperwork for consideration. FAU's trustees in February picked a new president: Adam Hasner, a former GOP state lawmaker and executive of a for-profit prison group that manages 16 ICE detention centers across the country. Hasner served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2002 to 2010, taking the role of House majority leader during his last three years in the chamber. Between 2016 and his appointment at FAU, he was executive vice president for public policy at the GEO Group, where he oversaw 60 consultants representing the company's interests in D.C., according to his resume. The $4 billion company's stock value doubled after Election Day, according to ProPublica. Following a two-year-long presidential search, FAU's trustees picked and the state university system's Board of Governors confirmed Hasner as the new president, with a base salary of $875,000 and a potential performance bonus of $150,000, according to his contract. 'When I step onto this campus, if I were to be the eighth president of this university, my commitment to you, sir, and my commitment to this board and my commitment to this entire university community is that I am not involved in partisan politics,' Hasner told trustees during the Feb. 10 meeting when they picked him. 'I do not believe that it is politically red or politically blue to be a university president.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The university of more than 31,000 students describes itself as a Hispanic-serving institution and the number-one Florida public university in terms of campus ethnic diversity. Details of the paperwork FAU submitted to ICE, such as the number of officers it intends to deputize, have not been published. Paula Muñoz, executive director of Florida Student Power Network, said that, considering Hasner's background with GEO Group, she wasn't surprised FAPD could be the first campus department to deputize its officers to act as immigration enforcement agents, which requires them to undergo a 40-hour online training. 'It's incredibly concerning. It's something that should not be a part of the education or institutions,' Muñoz said in a phone interview with Florida Phoenix. 'They should be worried about how to make sure that students are feeling safe on campus.' The pending agreement raised concerns for FAU junior Nicholas Ostheimer in light of the detention of nearly a dozen students and faculty across the country. He led the student protests against Hasner's selection as president. 'It's unbelievable and it's an insult to our community and an attack on our freedoms,' Ostheimer told the Phoenix. Meanwhile, the DeSantis administration is pushing for cities and counties to enter into the agreements that the governor has characterized as the maximum level of collaboration and has said will lead to street-level enforcement. So far, Florida cities, counties, and state agencies have entered into 194 agreements with ICE, although some of the agreements are aimed at apprehending people without legal status already in jails and prisons. In early March, the chief of Pinellas County Schools Police signed and submitted paperwork to enter into the task force model agreement with ICE without the knowledge or authorization of the school board and superintendent, which he later told the board he had done because he thought he had to comply. The school district didn't know about the agreement until the Phoenix contacted a spokesperson for comment. FAU and ICE didn't respond to the Phoenix's request for comment. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Another Florida university picks a former Republican lawmaker as its next president
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Atlantic University on Monday picked a former Republican lawmaker as its leader in what is the latest example of a public university in the state picking someone with a political background for such high-paying posts over experienced academic leaders. The board of trustees of the university in Boca Raton picked Adam Hasner to be the school's next president, following a lengthy and controversial search process that resulted in FAU tossing out its initial slate of finalists. The announcement comes as Gov. Ron DeSantis works to expand his influence on education in the state. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. State officials called off the school's previous presidential search after a Republican state senator then-aligned with DeSantis was not named as a finalist. After FAU relaunched the search, Hasner, a former Republican majority leader in the Florida House, emerged as a finalist. Now a vice president at Florida-based private prison company GEO Group, Hasner beat out two academics for the role: a dean at Florida State University and the provost of the University of Maine. Hasner argued his experience representing Palm Beach County in the Capitol gives him an edge over the university administrators vying for the job, saying a president's top responsibility is to be their school's 'top lobbyist.' 'If you're coming from the outside and you're trying to get to know the Florida legislative process or the regulatory process in Florida, it's going to take somebody years to be able to do that,' Hasner said. 'I can hit the ground running on Day One.' Hasner's appointment came over the concerns of some students and faculty members who questioned his political background, his lack of experience in higher education and his work for GEO Group, which stands to profit from President Donald Trump's push for mass deportations. FAU, which serves more than 31,000 students, has been without a permanent president for more than two years, after then-president John Kelly stepped down in December of 2022. Hasner's pick comes just days after Florida International University in Miami announced it's tapping Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez — DeSantis' second-in-command — to be that school's interim president, without conducting a public search. ___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Florida Atlantic University selects Adam Hasner as new president
Florida Atlantic University on Monday welcomed former House Majority Leader Adam Hasner as its new president, concluding a presidential search that was off and on over the past two years, and at times became mired in discord. The FAU Board of Trustees unanimously voted Monday afternoon to select the former state legislator, saying in part it believed his connections with the Legislature will bring crucial funding to FAU, bolstering it as a premier university in Florida. Hasner is the latest in a string of former lawmakers who've become a college or university president in the state in recent years. 'FAU is at a turning point today, hopefully for greatness,' Board of Trustees member Jonathan Satter said Monday afternoon. 'The university needs an advocate that can attract the attention of the community of donors, the Legislature, of students, of parents that can keep the dream alive and take the university to new limits. 'I'm excited about the possibilities of Florida Atlantic University under president Hasner.' Hasner, a Republican, served in the state House for eight years through 2010, including as majority leader in those last three years in office. He's a lawyer who works as the executive vice president for a public policy for the GEO Group, a Boca Raton-based prison operator. He was chosen from among other finalists. The other two finalists were Michael Hartline, a business dean at Florida State University and a finalist from the previous search; and John Volin, an executive vice president and provost at the University of Maine. The board asked each candidate a set of interview questions — what challenges and risks they've faced in their careers, how they would sell FAU to prospective students, donors and legislatures, how they would go about fundraising efforts and how they would support mental health and wellness for students. FAU's mission should be 'about changing lives,' Hasner told the board during his interview. 'Our mission is about providing opportunities so that these students who are attending our university have the opportunity to improve their lives and improve their families' lives and then ultimately go on to do things that have a tremendous impact on our community, on our state, and perhaps beyond,' he said. The finalists each visited FAU campuses last week to meet with students, faculty, staff and community members in a series of public forums. The prominent issues brought up during the public forums were how the new president would go about finding a new provost, what he would do about academic freedom, how to attract South Florida's high school students to FAU, how he would support research efforts and how he would deal with political interference and pressure. During Hasner's visit last week, he drew opposition from some people who expressed concern about him being the favored choice. Nicholas Ostheimer, an FAU junior studying political science and the FAU College Democrats campus organizer, said he felt it was a 'disingenuous' process, where picking a president should be 'a selection, not a coronation.' Hasner on Friday replied to the criticism, saying he understands 'we have a highly diverse student population, we have a strong responsibility in terms of advancing the academic mission for our students,' and would work to boost the university in many ways. Some community members also believed Hasner to be the best candidate for the job, with several voicing this opinion during the public comment portion of Monday's Board of Trustee's meeting. 'I represent a lot of a large group of conservative students on campus, and as it stands, a lot of us are really concerned about our ability to voice our classes and confront with our fellow students,' said Nick Coyte, a student and the president of Turning Point USA at FAU. 'I personally believe that Adam Hasner is, out of the three candidates, the best to help solve this issue where, where we haven't seen a lot of headway in terms of conservative voices given freedom to speak in the way that other students feel so emboldened.' Former FAU President John Kelly stepped down in late 2022, and since then Interim President Stacy Volnick has served at the helm. FAU had previous launched a search for a permanent leader that became mired in controversy. Initially, the university named three finalists on July 5, 2023, but two days later, the State University System's Board of Governors halted the search, alleging anomalies. At the time, some alleged the reason the search was stalled was because Randy Fine, a state legislator who had been endorsed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, wasn't selected as a finalist. Fine previously told the Sun Sentinel that he'd been pretty much guaranteed the job by the governor's office. A state investigation concluded that FAU broke a number of laws related to open meetings and the process to narrow the candidates. The search for a president continued. Then last month, Hasner and the other two candidates were publicly named as the three finalists in the running for president.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Former House majority leader Hasner picked to lead FAU after two years of interim president
Florida Atlantic University campus via FAU Florida Atlantic University trustees emphasized a desire to extract more money from the Legislature plus individual and corporate donors Monday in unanimously selecting a former GOP lawmaker as the new college president. Adam Hasner's background is in politics, as opposed to the two other finalists, a college dean and a university provost. While concerns about his lack of higher education experience lingered, more loudly heard during a trustees' meeting was a call for Tallahassee connections and an ability to fundraise. 'Vast changes are coming, we know it. We are either going to be left behind or we'll be ahead. That requires out-of-the box thinking, somebody that's different, somebody who can energize and communicate strongly, effectively,' Board of Trustees Chair Piero Bussani said, confirming Hasner would receive unanimous support from the board. Bussani emphasized a need for FAU, which has an annual operating budget of $1.2 billion, to get 'its fair share of dollars from Tallahassee,' a concern still echoing from a meeting on Friday when Florida International University trustees named Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez its interim president. University leaders, while trying to raise the institution's profile, are working to offset the absence of tuition increases, a changing college athletics landscape, and growing maintenance costs for aging campus infrastructure, to name a few money squeezes. Lt. Gov. Nuñez to head FIU, leave DeSantis administration Former U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse's brief run as president at University of Florida, former Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran serving as president at New College of Florida, and, most recently, the Nuñez hiring at FIU show the trend of influential GOP figures taking the reins of Florida public institutions of higher education. FAU trustees referenced 'the times that we're in,' 'all these challenges that are coming out way,' and 'the right person at the right time,' in justifying the politician over the academics. 'I can tell you, it is so important to be able to hit the ground running on Day One, because if you're coming from the outside and you're trying to get to know the Florida legislative process or the regulatory process of Florida, it's going to take somebody years to be able to do that,' Hasner said. 'So, I can go out from Day One and be that brand ambassador, be the chief evangelist for this university in the donor community, as well.' Sen. Gayle Harrell, chair of the Senate Higher Education Appropriations Committee, said political experience can help a president, but is not everything. 'They have the be the complete package. That's one aspect [a history in politics], and that may give you a leg up, but it's only one aspect of all the credentials that you have to present,' Harrell told the Phoenix on Monday. 'There are insights gained from having legislative experience or administrative experience in Tallahassee that perhaps someone coming from out of state or from another university system might not understand,' Harrell said. Hasner is set to make between $1 million and $1.5 million per year in salary and benefits as president, trustees decided in January, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Hasner served in the Florida House for eight years (2002-2010), including as majority leader from 2007-2010. Though he had hoped to move his way up in Florida politics, that didn't happen. In 2011 he announced his candidacy in the Republican U.S. Senate primary in 2012. He ran as a self-described Tea Party candidate and fierce conservative, opposing same-sex marriage. His platform was considered to the right of the other Republicans in the race — George LeMieux and Connie Mack IV — and by the time he dropped out of the race, he was getting only 2% support in polls. He pivoted to running in the South Florida Congressional District 22 race that year. He raised more than $3 million but lost by 10 points that fall to Democrat Lois Frankel. Hasner announced in January 2014 that he would not challenge Democrat Patrick Murphy in the Congressional District 18 seat, effectively ending his political career. While in the House, Hasner helped establish FAU's College of Medicine in 2011. The Florida State University law school graduate serves on the FAU College of Business advisory board and on the board of trustees for Boca Raton Regional Hospital. The former politician has been serving as public policy director with GEO Group, a private prison company based in Boca Raton, which students participating in the search process criticized for its controversial history. Hasner replied that inserting GEO into the conversation was a 'red herring.' Hasner beat two other finalists for the FAU spot: Michael Hartline, dean of the Florida State University College of Business, and John Volin, provost at University of Maine. The names of non-finalist candidates are protected by state law. Boards of trustees at Florida universities comprise six appointees from the governor and five from the Board of Governors of the State University System. Also serving are the local Faculty Senate president and student body president. In December, DeSantis appointed Jonathan Satter, a previous member of his administration, and Tina Vidal-Duart to the board. Trustee Pablo Paez, who voted for Hasner, is vice president for corporate relations for GEO, the same company Hasner works for. Trustee Brad Levine, appointed to the board by former Gov. Rick Scott and reappointed by DeSantis, mentioned that he previously worked for one of Hasner's campaigns while voicing support for the former politician. The vote is subject to confirmation by the State University System Board of Governors. FAU Democrats protested Hasner's candidacy as a political move, citing his lack of educational background and his role working for private prisons as disqualifying. 'Mr. Hasner, your record speaks far louder than your platitudes ever could. Trustees, please know the FAU student body needs a president, not a politician. We want a selection, not a coronation. You are here not because you are a worthy finalist, but because of your allies in Tallahassee and on the Board of Governors. The FAU student body has one thing to say to you: Goodbye Adam Hasner,' FAU Democrats President Nicholas Ostheimer said during a campus forum Friday before a group of students left the room. Hasner said it was 'disappointing' and 'unfortunate' that students used the forum 'to make a statement and walk out.' 'But I do hope that if I am the next president of this university, that we have an opportunity for constructive engagement and that we have an opportunity for a constructive dialogue,' Hasner said. 'When I step onto this campus, if I were to be the eighth president of this university, my commitment to you, sir, and my commitment to this board and my commitment to this entire university community is that I am not involved in partisan politics,' Hasner told trustees. 'I do not believe that it is politically red or politically blue to be a university president.' Ostheimer told the Phoenix be believes Hasner is 'really only under consideration because he is a political ally of Gov. Ron DeSantis, who wants to make FAU the next battleground of his culture war.' Hasner said his 'mission, singularly' is advancing FAU and a welcoming environment that 'respects diverse viewpoints.' 'We really don't want a partisan, ideological right-wing candidate to be in charge of our university, because they don't have the requisite skillset necessary to administer it effectively and competently,' Ostheimer said. Student Body President Stefan Andjelkovic, a trustee, insisted that Hasner 'is someone that the students can trust.' 'As all parents tell their kids, 'You should look up to somebody, you should look up to the president of like the United States.' I think the honorable Adam Hasner is someone that the students will look up to,' Andjelkovic said. The search had been open since John Kelly stepped down as president and Stacy Volnick was named interim president in September 2022. The university, with its main campus in Boca Raton, previously conducted a search to fill the role of president, but that search was called off after a Board of Governors investigation determined the search committee violated Florida's Sunshine Law and state regulations. Problems found by the State University System inspector general included an anonymous survey by the search committee to identify candidates, the questionnaire administered to candidates, and the vetting of applicants. The questionnaire asked about their personal pronouns, although it was found the information was not passed on to the search committee and there was no legal bar to collecting that information. Previously, as reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education, state Rep. Randy Fine, a Broward County Republican, said he was told by DeSantis that he was a 'shoo-in' for the FAU presidency, and days after Fine wasn't named as a finalist, the search was suspended. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Phoenix reporters Mitch Perry and Christine Sexton contributed to this report
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Another Florida university picks a former Republican lawmaker as its next president
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Atlantic University on Monday picked a former Republican lawmaker as its leader in what is the latest example of a public university in the state picking someone with a political background for such high-paying posts over experienced academic leaders. The board of trustees of the university in Boca Raton picked Adam Hasner to be the school's next president, following a lengthy and controversial search process that resulted in FAU tossing out its initial slate of finalists. The announcement comes as Gov. Ron DeSantis works to expand his influence on education in the state. State officials called off the school's previous presidential search after a Republican state senator then-aligned with DeSantis was not named as a finalist. After FAU relaunched the search, Hasner, a former Republican majority leader in the Florida House, emerged as a finalist. Now a vice president at Florida-based private prison company GEO Group, Hasner beat out two academics for the role: a dean at Florida State University and the provost of the University of Maine. Hasner argued his experience representing Palm Beach County in the Capitol gives him an edge over the university administrators vying for the job, saying a president's top responsibility is to be their school's 'top lobbyist.' 'If you're coming from the outside and you're trying to get to know the Florida legislative process or the regulatory process in Florida, it's going to take somebody years to be able to do that,' Hasner said. 'I can hit the ground running on Day One.' Hasner's appointment came over the concerns of some students and faculty members who questioned his political background, his lack of experience in higher education and his work for GEO Group, which stands to profit from President Donald Trump's push for mass deportations. FAU, which serves more than 31,000 students, has been without a permanent president for more than two years, after then-president John Kelly stepped down in December of 2022. Hasner's pick comes just days after Florida International University in Miami announced it's tapping Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez — DeSantis' second-in-command — to be that school's interim president, without conducting a public search. ___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Kate Payne, The Associated Press
