Good morning, and welcome to Wednesday, March 19. Beth McMurtrie wrote the top of today’s Briefing. Laura Krantz wrote the rest. Julia Piper compiled Comings and Goings. Get in touch: dailybriefing@chronicle.com.

The new New College?

Professors at a Florida regional public university wonder why conservatives are portraying their institution as a liberal bastion, and whether the governor is planning a major overhaul, à la New College, our Alissa Gary reports.

The appointment of five new trustees at the University of West Florida has set off alarm bells. One trustee in particular, Scott Yenor, has faculty members and legislators worried. Yenor, a political-science professor at Boise State University who was elected board chair, is a fellow at the Claremont Institute, a right-wing think tank, and has advised Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, on education policy.

The new board chair brings baggage with him:

• Yenor wrote on X that he would emphasize “Western civilization, sound civic education, good work-force preparation, and professional education” — all standard components of DeSantis’s vision for Florida’s public universities.
• In a 2021 speech, he railed against “independent women,” calling them “more medicated, meddlesome, and quarrelsome than women need to be.”
• More recently, he suggested on X that only white, non-Jewish men were qualified for political leadership. Yenor has denied accusations of antisemitism, but the Florida Legislative Jewish Caucus has expressed “deep concern” over his potential leadership role.

DeSantis has worked hard to reshape Florida’s public universities, dismantling diversity offices, overhauling curricula and post-tenure review, and installing allies as board members and even presidents.

Until now, West Florida has mostly stayed out of the line of fire. Unlike New College, which was an overtly progressive liberal-arts institution, West Florida primarily serves Republican-voting counties. Yet a recent article in National Review called it a “college led astray by progressive ideologues.” Said one faculty member: “We’re being framed as something we’re not.”

Yenor’s views might be too extreme even in a red state. He faces a confirmation vote from state lawmakers. Last week, commissioners in Escambia County, where West Florida is located, voted unanimously to support a community group opposing DeSantis’s trustees and promised to send a letter to the State Legislature. Four of the five commissioners are Republican.

The bigger question: Why is the governor targeting a university that doesn’t generate controversy? New College was an unorthodox and progressive college. It’s easy to see why its ethos and academic programs rankled conservatives. But the University of West Florida is not that. “We’re meeting all the expectations that the state has set for us,” said one faculty member, “and yet still it seems like there’s this very ideological push to fix something where they provided no evidence that we’re broken.”

Read the full story here: Why a DeSantis-Backed Board Chair at a Florida University Might Be in Trouble

Quick hits

• Moody’s revises higher-ed outlook to “negative": The credit-rating agency downgraded its outlook for the sector from “stable” due to recent and potential federal-policy changes that have created a more challenging operating environment for colleges, it announced Tuesday. Moody’s cited federal research cuts; actions to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs; and steep cuts to the Department of Education work force, along with possibilities like a reduction of Pell Grants, disruption of student loans, expansion of the endowment tax, and a drop in foreign-student visas, as factors contributing to the downgrade. In response, institutions are pausing capital investments, freezing hiring, and cutting spending, it said, noting that top-rated institutions are expected to manage the challenges more effectively. (Moody’s Ratings)
• Poll finds bipartisan support for research into the value of a degree: The poll, conducted by the philanthropic organization Arnold Ventures, found Democratic, Republican, and independent voters support more action by states and the federal government to assess the value of a college degree and hold institutions accountable for programs that fail to deliver on their promises. (Arnold Ventures)
• Head of National Human Genome Research Institute out: Eric Green, who led the institute for 16 years, is the first director of one of the NIH’s 27 institutes to leave his position since President Trump took office. More layoffs are anticipated amid a restructuring that would cut the number of institutes to 15. (STAT)
• Kansas legislators advance bill to intervene in accreditation: The House preliminarily approved legislation that would forbid accreditors from forcing public and private colleges to violate state law in order to stay accredited. The legislation could pave the way for Kansas to sue accreditors that punish institutions for failing to meet diversity, equity, and inclusion standards should the state, which has already banned diversity statements, prohibit DEI programs or race-based preferences more broadly. (News From the States)

The U. of Phoenix sale is still stalled

An agreement to sell the University of Phoenix to a University of Idaho affiliate has now been stalled for nearly two years, our Taylor Swaak reports. There are a number of new developments in the situation:

• The University of Phoenix’s owners, Apollo Global Management, Inc. and the Vistria Group, are reportedly considering an IPO for Apollo Education Group, the university’s holding company.
• The deadline to close on a $550-million deal with Four Three Education, Inc., a nonprofit affiliated with the University of Idaho, is June 10.
• The University of Idaho says it still wants to see a deal go through. “We continue to seek viable pathways for the deal to move forward,” a spokeswoman said.
• The University of Phoenix also said the agreement is “still in play,” even as experts say the IPO suggests otherwise. “If there was something to announce, they would announce it,” one said.

The backdrop: Many Idaho state lawmakers are skeptical of the agreement, questioning the price tag and whether the University of Idaho could be on the hook for student-borrower defense claims tied to the for-profit institution. A lawsuit also continues to complicate the deal. The Idaho attorney general in 2023 claimed the State Board of Education violated open-meetings law in approving the acquisition; the case is still pending.

What to watch for: The Department of Education has typically conducted change-of-ownership reviews once transactions like these close. But with large cuts at the agency, it’s not clear what level of oversight it would lend to such an acquisition.

Stat of the day

30

— The approximate number of faculty members St. Norbert College plans to lay off to close a budget gap, Wisconsin Public Radio reports.

The small Wisconsin college faces declining enrollment and a $12-million budget deficit. It plans to lay off 21 faculty members this May and another six in May 2026. It also plans to cut more than a dozen majors and minors, including chemistry, computer science, physics, theater studies, art education, and French. The college had two previous rounds of layoffs, earlier this year and in 2023.

Comings and goings

• Kevin Howell, chief external affairs officer for the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and UNC Health, has been named chancellor of North Carolina State University.
• Jennifer W. Reynolds has been named dean of the University of Oregon School of Law after serving as interim dean since April 2024.
• Steve Robinson, vice provost for enrollment management at the University of Utah, has been named vice provost for enrollment management at the University of Missouri.

To submit a new-hire announcement, email people@chronicle.com.

Footnote

A recent footnote about the cherished albino squirrels of Olney, Illinois, has prompted one nature-loving newsletter reader to send us an important tip on the whereabouts of these rare creatures.

Olney, you’ll recall, is the home of Olney Central College. More importantly, it bills itself as “home of the white squirrels,” a breed that’s only found in a few other places, including Kenton, Tennessee, and Brevard, North Carolina.

Well, add North Florida to that list. Marcy Driscoll, dean emerita and executive associate dean of the Florida State University College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences, wrote to say she’s seen white squirrels on several occasions near the Ochlockonee River.

“I have no idea whether anyone locally is keeping track of the population here or even how large it is,” she wrote. “There always seemed to be plenty the times I’ve seen them.”

In Olney, these rarefied squirrels enjoy a protected status: They have the right of way on public streets, and there’s a $750 fine for harassing them.

So let’s consider that there’s something else going on here: Officials at Olney Central College have been chopping down trees lately as part of a campus construction project and replacing the squirrels’ natural homes with “nesting boxes.”

It seems quite plausible that the revered Olney albino squirrels are not so satisfied with this man-made excuse for a real nest — no word on the thread count of nesting-box sheets — and decided a winter by the river in Florida sounded a lot nicer.