Florida International University picks Jeanette Nuñez as sole candidate for president
Florida International University announced Thursday that it has completed its presidential search process and interim president Jeanette Nuñez is the sole candidate to fill the position.
The move comes as no surprise to the university community. Nuñez, the former lieutenant governor and a former state representative, was appointed interim president in February after the chair of the FIU Board of Trustees received a call from someone in Governor DeSantis’ office advising that she was interested in the position.
“I did not suggest the lieutenant governor as interim president not thinking she should be the full-time president,” said Rogelio Tovar, chair of the Board of Trustees, in February.
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Although a presidential search is required by law, this search was seen by the university committee as largely procedural.
In fact, one member of the board of trustees, had suggested the idea of not completing a presidential search at all.
Trustee member Dean C. Colson told the Miami Herald in February that he would be in favor of the Board of Governors amending the presidential search requirements given FIU’s “unique situation,” as to not spend taxpayer dollars conducting a search in which the winning candidate was already clear.
“Why spend a couple hundred thousand dollars having a search if the outcome is determined, given the engagement of the governor’s office,” said Colson.
A statement from FIU said the presidential search committee was considering two other finalists aside from interim president Nuñez, including a sitting president and sitting provost at other institutions.
The candidates apparently only wanted to move into the public phase of the process if they were selected as the lone candidate, prompting them to withdraw from the process, FIU’s statement said. The search was run by consultant company called Funk Associates.
Since Nuñez became interim president of the university, she has received sharp criticism from student and faculty groups on campus who say she was undemocratically appointed.
Students and faculty also expressed concerns on her stances on immigration. Although she once was a supporter of in-state tuition waivers for undocumented students, she now opposes it. In a recent faculty senate meeting at FIU, she said that the wave of terminations of foreign students’ statuses had to do with weeding out criminals from campus, though it was revealed that many of those students had minor run-ins with the law.
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“If there are students that have engaged in criminal activity, regardless of immigration status, but certainly if you are here illegally, I think it is our responsibility as a campus, I hope everyone would agree, if you were a criminal or you have someone that has a criminal arrest warrant, I think you would want that student removed from campus.,” she said at the meeting in April, which was held to discuss FIU agreeing to deputize a portion of its police force to help with immigration enforcement.
In early April, the FIU police department enrolled in the 287 (g) program, which will allow the university police to train some of its officers to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement to stop, question and in some cases detain people who they suspect are in the country illegally.
Nuñez is a graduate of FIU, where she earned a bachelor’s in political science and international relations, and a master’s in public administration.
Although it seems the university’s decision is fairly cemented, they said they “invite our community to actively participate,” as they enter the next phase of the presidential search process.
On May 21 there will be a series of open forums to allow the community to ask questions and share ideas.
The Board of Trustees will also interview the interim president publicly at the beginning of June.
This story was originally published May 8, 2025 at 12:53 PM.
