‘We Smell a Rat’: A Reversal in Miami Dade’s Presidential Search Inflames the Community

Trustees at Miami Dade College touched off a furor on Wednesday, when they voted to scrap a monthslong search process to replace President Eduardo J. Padrón.

The Board of Trustees tossed out all four finalists except Lenore Rodicio, the college’s executive vice president and provost, who will remain under consideration. In the crowded meeting on Wednesday afternoon, audience members made clear their disappointment, booing and crying, “Shame!”

It was a surprise reversal in the search for a successor to Padrón, a local icon known for turning the community college into a vast and respected Miami institution over his 24 years as president. In 2016 he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his work.

Community-college presidencies can be especially tough to fill: The top job suffers from relatively high turnover and a largely homogenous recruitment pipeline. By most accounts, Miami Dade was able to circumvent those struggles, drawing hundreds of inquiries, dozens of applicants, and four finalists vetted in a gantlet of public interviews. But the process turned unusually turbulent.

One finalist’s story of working with gang leaders drew scrutiny after Miami Herald journalists could find no one to corroborate it. Faculty members, journalists, and commentators have raised fears of political tampering with the college’s presidency — fears that were only heightened after this week’s vote.

Javier Alberto Soto, president and chief executive of the Miami Foundation and a member of the 17-person search committee, said the vote amounted to “an insult” to everyone on the panel.

Soto, who was not at Wednesday’s board meeting, learned about the vote from a friend. “Frankly, I was stunned, and immediately angered,” he said.

“We smell a rat,” the Herald’s own editorial board wrote on Thursday. It called the reversal “sinister” and “a slap, an insult to so many of the civic-minded community leaders who had been involved in the seven-month search process.”

“I’ve never heard of a process being conducted in that way,” said Elizabeth Ramsay, an associate professor of languages and president of the United Faculty of Miami Dade College.

“It got incredibly tense,” she said. Up until the board’s about-face, “people still had confidence in the Board of Trustees to carry out their charge.”

A New Board

Much of the scrutiny has centered on a recent shakeup in the board, appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Three months into the search, faculty members criticized a push by three of the four new appointees to lower the qualifications for the position, the Herald reported. New trustees signaled they were considering more-unconventional candidates from outside academe.

That push failed, but the qualifications question now appears back on the table. Trustees are expected to meet in the coming weeks to discuss the search and the possibility of an interim president.

Padrón previously announced he would step down at the end of this summer. The college did not specify when, in response to questions from The Chronicle.

“It appears as if there is a candidate in mind who has not gone through the normal application process,” Ramsay said. Elaine de Valle, a watchdog blogger, fueled that speculation on Thursday with a rundown of rumored candidates.

“What the faculty want is simply for the Board of Trustees to follow the procedures that were set out at the very beginning of the search,” Ramsay said.

Mark H. Richards, a former longtime faculty member and founder of the faculty union, echoed those concerns. The five trustees newly appointed to the seven-member board appeared to upend the process, he said, noting that the fifth was appointed just weeks ago, in advance of the vote.

Juan Mendieta, a college spokesman, noted that a 6-to-1 majority voted to restart the search, with only the board chair, Bernie Navarro, opposed. In an email, Mendieta said Padrón was not immediately available for an interview, and referred questions about the search process to Navarro.

Navarro did not respond to an interview request on Thursday.

“Miami Dade College plays such a vital role in the shaping of this community’s future,” Soto said. “That’s why it’s so incredibly important that we as a community get this right.”

Follow Steven Johnson on Twitter at @stetyjohn, or email him at steve.johnson@chronicle.com.