Alex Kelly Becomes 12th DeSantis Ally Picked for Florida College Post, With Pay Rising to $353,000
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Sep 11
Alex Kelly Becomes 12th DeSantis Ally Picked for Florida College Post, With Pay Rising to $353,000
1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Sep 11
Summary
Alex Kelly, Florida’s commerce secretary and a former DeSantis deputy chief of staff, was named the sole finalist for Pensacola State College president, extending the governor’s influence months before he leaves office.
The appointment would make Kelly at least the 12th close DeSantis ally to land a university or state-college presidency, despite critics saying many appointees lack higher-education leadership experience.
Kelly’s pay would jump from $186,000 in state government to more than $353,000 if he matches outgoing president Edward Meadows’s salary.
The latest pick fits a broader remaking of Florida higher education that included New College’s takeover, anti-DEI measures partly struck down in July, and trustee and board structures dominated by DeSantis appointees.
Faculty and free-expression critics say those governance changes—not just the presidencies—have turned Florida’s public colleges into a more explicitly ideological system that could outlast DeSantis and spread to other red states.