Latest news with #Pensacola-based

University of West Florida president announces resignation

Miami Herald

12-05-2025

Politics
Miami Herald

University of West Florida president announces resignation

Continuing major turnover in the leadership of state universities and colleges, University of West Florida President Martha Saunders announced Monday she will step down from her post. Saunders, who became president of the Pensacola-based school in 2017 and is the longest-serving president in the university system, did not detail reasons for deciding to leave the job but said in a message to the university community that serving in the position 'has been one of the great honors of my life.' 'In accordance with the terms of my contract, and after thoughtful reflection, I have made the decision to conclude my presidency,' Saunders said in the message. 'This was not an easy choice. I know it may come as a surprise, and for some, a disappointment. Please know I did not make it lightly. I believe this is the right time — for me and for UWF.' The message did not give a date for her exit. 'I will work closely with the Board of Trustees and the campus leadership to ensure a smooth transition,' Saunders said in the message. 'My commitment to this university and its people remains strong through my final day in office — and beyond.' The announcement came after Gov. Ron DeSantis in January appointed five new UWF trustees, igniting controversy at the school. Appointee Scott Yenor, a professor at Boise State University, quickly was elected chairman of the UWF board but resigned in April after criticism for such issues as a 2021 comment calling working women 'more medicated, meddlesome and quarrelsome than women need to be.' Another DeSantis appointee, Gates Garcia, a Yenor supporter, resigned in April after the Florida Senate did not schedule a confirmation hearing for him. DeSantis, who has made a priority of overhauling the university system and targeting what he calls 'wokeness,' last week appointed Zack Smith, a senior legal fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, to the UWF board. The Pensacola News Journal reported that during a special board meeting Thursday, Smith questioned Saunders about issues at the university dating back two 2019, including two drag shows that were held. In her message Monday, Saunders did not address such issues but pointed to achievements during her tenure. 'Over the past several years, we've accomplished extraordinary things together: record enrollments, historic fundraising, national recognition, and a campus culture that puts students first,' the message said. 'We've met challenges head-on and kept our values intact. I could not be more proud of what we've built.' Saunders' decision came after the University of Florida and Florida International University last week announced search committees had selected sole finalists to become presidents of those schools. University of Michigan President Santa Ono was selected at UF, while FIU Interim President Jeanette Nunez, a former lieutenant governor, was selected at FIU. Meanwhile, Florida A&M University is holding on-campus interviews this week with four candidates who are seeking to become its president. Also, former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner was selected in February to become president of Florida Atlantic University. In addition, University of South Florida President Rhea Law has announced she will leave her job. What's more, Florida State University, the University of North Florida, Florida Gulf Coast University, New College of Florida and Florida Polytechnic University have named new presidents since 2021. With Saunders' departure, University of Central Florida President Alexander Cartwright would be the longest-tenured president in the system. He was named UCF president in 2020. Meanwhile, at least three state colleges — Pasco-Hernando State College, North Florida College and Lake-Sumter State College — have had presidents recently resign or are in the search process for new leaders. — News Service senior writer Dara Kam contributed to this report.

University of Florida recruit case moves forward

Yahoo

12-04-2025

Sport
Yahoo

University of Florida recruit case moves forward

A federal judge this week refused to toss out a lawsuit filed by a star football recruit who alleges that a University of Florida booster and officials reneged on a deal that would have paid him millions of dollars to play for the Gators. U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers, in a 40-page decision Tuesday, ruled that Jaden Rashada can continue to pursue fraud and conspiracy allegations against defendants including UF football coach Billy Napier. Advertisement The lawsuit, filed in May and amended in August, involves what Rodgers described as a 'morass of unprecedented operational change' in college sports after athletes have started to get paid in what are known as name, image and likeness, or NIL, deals. Rashada, a highly touted quarterback coming out of high school, committed in 2022 to play at the University of Miami and expected to receive $9.5 million through a 'collective' — a type of arrangement where donors pool money to pay for NIL deals, Rodgers wrote. But he backed out of the Miami commitment in late 2022 after being allegedly promised $13.85 million to come to UF, according to the lawsuit and Rodgers' decision. After money was not paid, Rashada withdrew a letter of intent to play at UF in January 2023. In addition to Napier, the lawsuit names as defendants UF booster Hugh Hathcock; Velocity Automotive Solutions LLC, a Hathcock business; and Marcus Castro-Walker, who was director of player engagement and NIL at the university. Rodgers' ruling described Hathcock as a 'prominent' booster who led a collective named Gator Guard. Advertisement The defendants requested that Rodgers dismiss the case. While she dismissed some claims Tuesday, Rodgers said Rashada had provided an adequate legal basis to pursue three fraud-related claims and a civil conspiracy claim. 'The allegations in the amended complaint, accepted as true at this stage, advance a compelling narrative that the defendants were all marching to the beat of the same drum throughout Rashada's failed recruitment to UF, each taking interwoven and often overlapping steps designed to lure Rashada away from Miami all while knowing they would never make good on the NIL promises made and leading Rashada on until his other NIL offers dried up,' the Pensacola-based judge wrote about the conspiracy claim. 'Rashada is not required to allege that defendants devised the putative conspiracy in a smoke-filled room. And the court is satisfied that there are ample, particularized allegations to reasonably infer that the defendants conspired to commit the fraud described by Rashada.' Rodgers, however, added that an '800-pound gorilla lurking in this case' is whether Napier and Castro-Walker are shielded by sovereign immunity, which generally protects government employees from lawsuits for actions taken in their jobs. 'Specifically, Napier claims he is an agent of two supposedly covered entities, UF and the University Athletic Association, while Castro-Walker avers he was employed by the University Athletic Association at all relevant times,' Rodgers wrote. 'Those arguments will have to wait for another day.' Advertisement Rashada went to Arizona State University and then Georgia after withdrawing his letter of intent at UF. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.

The Florida Entrepreneur Suing Over Tariffs Is Right

Bloomberg

12-04-2025

Business
Bloomberg

The Florida Entrepreneur Suing Over Tariffs Is Right

When Emily Ley started her stationery business 17 years ago in Florida, she felt like it was the embodiment of the American dream. Today, she's the unlikely face of opposition to a trade war against China instigated by the American president. Those tariffs threaten to extinguish Ley's business and the operations of millions of companies like hers. 'It wasn't on my Bingo card this year to sue the president,' said Ley, the CEO and founder of Simplified, a Pensacola-based stationery company. That changed after a social media post went viral in which she warned of the devastation President Donald Trump's tariffs would have on small businesses.

Florida stationery company files first lawsuit challenging Trump tariffs

The Guardian

04-04-2025

Business
The Guardian

Florida stationery company files first lawsuit challenging Trump tariffs

A Florida stationery entrepreneur has become the first to legally challenge Donald Trump's new China tariffs, claiming they were imposed illegally and threaten American small businesses. Emily Ley, a lifestyle influencer and the founder of Simplified, filed a federal lawsuit on Thursday in Florida against Trump and his administration, arguing the president unlawfully bypassed required procedures when implementing the 20% tariff on Chinese imports. The legal challenge comes amid escalating global trade tensions, including China announcing retaliatory tariffs of 34% on all US goods starting on 10 April in response to Trump's 'liberation day' tariffs. Global markets have already seen trillions wiped from valuations as fears of a recession mount. 'These unlawfully implemented tariffs cause harm to American businesses, American jobs, and American consumers and will be the end of many American dreams,' Ley wrote in a post on social media. The peculiar and sweeping nature of Trump's tariffs has raised eyebrows, with even uninhabited territories like Australia's remote Heard Island and McDonald Islands – home only to penguins and volcanic landscapes – appearing on the White House's list of places facing new trade duties. Despite market turmoil and likely more lawsuits, Trump wrote on Truth Social that his economic policies 'will never change', telling foreign investors 'this is a great time to get rich, richer than ever before!!!' Ley's Pensacola-based company, which sells premium planners and organizational tools, argues Trump exceeded his authority by using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (Ieepa) instead of traditional trade rules, which require detailed investigations before tariffs can be implemented. The lawsuit also claims Trump has not demonstrated the tariffs are 'necessary' to address the opioid emergency he cited when imposing them in February, then doubling them in March. Supporters of the president have held that small and local companies like Simplified should go all in on using American manufacturing for their products, an idea the company maintains it has already tried without success. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion 'We pursued domestic manufacturing from the outset,' Ley wrote on Instagram. 'Our first planners were made in the US in 2012. Each unit cost $38 to make. The US did not/does not yet have the infrastructure to support what we make.' The lawsuit adds that the tariffs will divert money that 'could be used to pay salaries, fund growth and pour into communities' and instead forces small businesses like hers to either raise prices dramatically or cut staff.

Trump Sued Over Tariffs by Small US Firm Claiming ‘Severe' Harm