Former Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez took her oath of office Oct. 24, cementing her (semi-)new title: president of Florida International University.
The FIU community and Nuñez’s network gathered for her presidential investiture ceremony in Miami, complete with video comments from Gov. Ron DeSantis. She’d served at FIU on an interim basis since she left the governor’s office last February.
“To lead FIU as its seventh president, and as the first alumna, is both the greatest honor and the greatest responsibility of my career,” Nuñez said during the ceremony at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center. Having earned a bachelor’s degree in 1994 and master’s in 1998 from FIU, she’s not only the first graduate to preside over the institution, but also the first woman to serve.
(Courtesy Jeanette Nuñez)
Jeanette Nuñez, the new president of FIU
“President Nuñez is a visionary leader, a dedicated public servant and a trailblazer whose lifelong commitment to excellence and innovation perfectly aligns with the bold future the Board of Trustees has laid out for her,” FIU Board of Trustees Chair Carlos Duart said.
NUÑEZ’S NETWORK
Present at the ceremony were Attorney General James Uthmeier, Education Commissioner Anastasio Kamoutsas, Supreme Court Justice John Curiel, U.S. Reps. Byron Donalds (R-Naples), Mario Díaz-Balart (R-Miami), Carlos Jiménez (R-Miami), and Frederica Wilson (D-Miami Gardens), and director of the U.S. Marshal Service Gadyaces Serralta.
A number of State University System figures attended, including Chancellor Ray Rodrigues.
Rodrigues, who served in the Legislature alongside Nuñez, pointed to her stint as chair of the Higher Education & Workforce Subcommittee in the House from 2012-2014, pointing to that committee’s efforts to establish preeminence classifications and performance-based funding.
“These two pieces of legislation, preeminence and performance-based funding, are what has driven the transformation and elevation of higher education in the state of Florida,” Rodrigues said.
(Courtesy State University System of Florida)
Ray Rodrigues, Chancellor, State University System of Florida
“FIU, I tell you this morning, that your president’s service to this institution began long before she was ever employed by you, going all the way back to the vision and foresight she had as a representative and then later as lieutenant governor,” Rodrigues said.
DeSantis and U.S. Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Marco Rubio both recorded video messages congratulating Nuñez that played during the ceremony.
“She served with distinction and she served ably,” as lieutenant governor, DeSantis said, “but she is now in her element as the president of Florida International University down in Miami.”
Nuñez, 53, served in the Florida Legislature from 2010-2018 before serving six years as lieutenant governor, starting in 2019.
She was named interim president in February and permanent president in June.
HONORING THE PAST
In her remarks, Nuñez honored the six former presidents of FIU: Chuck Perry, Harold Crosby, Greg Wolfe, Modesto Maidique, Mark Rosenberg, and Kenneth Jessell.
Maidique, for whom the main campus is named, Rosenberg, and Jessell were in attendance.
“Each of these leaders fought their share of giants, convinced the naysayers, silenced the detractors and endeavored diligently to build the university I now have the privilege of leading,” Nuñez said.
Nuñez’s presidency was met with opposition, with the Faculty Senate representative Noël Barengo voting no, citing “deep concern about what we see as another effort by the governor’s office to interfere with public higher education.” He did vote in her favor for the permanent presidency.
About a dozen public speakers appeared in the virtual meeting approving her as interim president in February, questioning the need for Jessell to step down before his contract expired and her partisan political involvement. One called Nuñez “a yes-woman for DeSantis’ dangerous agenda.”
EMBRACING THE FUTURE
FIU, 60 years old, was founded on the site of an old airport. Earlier this year, it received the highest rank for performance metrics among Florida’s public universities.
“Looking forward to FIU’s next 50 years, I see boundless opportunity. I see the inevitability of FIU, a world-class university, a research powerhouse, but also a thriving marketplace of ideas,” Nuñez said. “I see a place of intellectual inquiry and of academic rigor, a place where new ideas are born and students learn and challenge each other,”
Nuñez said her administration would double the university’s research expenditures. She also said she believes FIU will be a top 30 university by 2030. This year, U.S. News & World Report ranked it No. 46 among public universities and No. 97 among national universities.
“Academic freedom is one of the pillars of higher education, and FIU is proud of the work we’ve done to honor this long-standing tradition,” Nuñez said. “But we must be vigilant in ensuring that our faculty fosters open dialogue and viewpoint diversity.”
Lawmakers and the governor have passed various pieces of legislation related to topics that may be taught in schools and which initiatives, particularly those related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, may be funded with state dollars. State law also mandates a survey that tracks ideological moods on campus.
“Rather than telling our students what to think, faculty should welcome rigorous debate,” Nuñez said. “Under my leadership, FIU will uphold diversity of thought, academic freedom, and civil discourse. FIU will never be a place where hateful and violent rhetoric devolve into chaos, nor will it be a place where a select few ideas will be tolerated.”