A popular public narrative which has served to qualify SharpVue Capital private equity firm partner and principal owner Lee Harriss Roberts for his second job as UNC-Chapel Hill chancellor assumes professional traits and competencies—that Roberts is “careful” and “deliberate,” able with “technical details,” and has superior “financial acumen.”

Years of messy paperwork Roberts has submitted for one of his myriad investment funds, Roberts SV GP, LLC, counter this narrative—either prevailing perception does not match reality, or Roberts has a different set of desirable financial skills

Reporting

North Carolina limited liability companies must pay an annual fee and file an “annual report” by April 15 to remain active in good standing.

Roberts did not submit his 2023 annual report for Roberts SV GP, LLC until October—of 2024.

Eighteen months delinquent.

These are not glossy booklets with company photos, infographics, records, financials, and forecasts. These are one-page documents listing current company executives, representatives, and contact information.

They have few fields. They are straightforward.

At First Glance

Filing under the name “LH Roberts,” in 2024 Roberts categorizes Roberts SV GP, LLC as a “veteran-owned small business.”

Roberts is not known to be a veteran.

An LLC must name a “Registered Agent”—an individual or agency which will receive official documents from the NC Secretary of State, Department of Revenue, the Internal Revenue Service, and other state and federal agencies.

In 2026, Roberts lists the office address where he, as the LLC’s registered agent, is to receive documents, as “P 2066”—which is not an address at all.

Attempts to mail official or sensitive documents to this location will result in them being returned to sender—a curious arrangement for a detail-oriented investment professional.

Private Equity Primer

Private equity firms raise funds from private investors—including individuals and groups, businesses and organizations, and private charities—pooling funds to multiply buying power for large investments.

Common investment purchases include commercial real estate and development projects, successful or promising companies, and other valuable, or potentially valuable assets.

Firms may manage operations under one, or under a few business structure(s). SharpVue Capital, for example, is two companies operating under shared management—SharpVue Capital, LLC and SharpVue SBIC Management LP.

Firms then organize investment funds in varied, separate company structures—such as individual LLCs and limited partnerships—to maximize profitability while siloing investor funds, limiting personal, business, and investor liability in case of lawsuits or bankruptcy.

These are not companies that sell apples; these are companies that use combined investor money to buy companies that sell apples, collecting annual 2% management fees and up to 20% of profits, plus interest on any of the company’s own money and assets invested, including at the time of sale.

Sloppy or Tricky?

Roberts has filed annual reports for dozens of LLCs and limited partnerships over the past two decades. His 2025 annual report for Roberts SV GP, LLC is, of the active companies he owns and manages, his strangest.

It contains multiple, significant “errors”—inexplicable unless Roberts is inept, or these “errors” serve to obscure and conceal key company details which carry legal and financial implications and consequences, while facilitating opportunities for gain.

Devil in the Details

Pause.

If you’ve made it this far, you are bored, and close to closing out this window.

There are no bullet holes or stab wounds in this post. No scarred villains, no blood, no drugs, no interesting characters, no conflict, no tension…

No broken windows, no alarms or sirens…

Just one quiet man mixing up basic forms he’s filed hundreds of times, or falsifying them.

Yawn.

It’s tedious, rather than entertaining. These basic details are easy to ignore. And that’s why they’re such a great place to hide.

Take a break. Look away. Take your time. Come back.

It’s work.

Keep reading.

North Carolina § 55D-18. Penalty for signing false document: (a) A person commits an offense if the person signs a document the person knows is false in any material respect with intent that the document be delivered to the Secretary of State for filing. (b) An offense under this section is a Class 1 misdemeanor.

There are only a few flavors of Higher Ed Heist president: politician/lobbyist, “consultant,” supplicant, corrupted, or hostage academic, and private equity investor. If one can understand, can follow what Lee Roberts is doing within the UNC System, one can anticipate what Scott Beardsley is planning at the University of Virginia—as well as others like them.

They share practices, proclivities, and networks.

They are where they are not because of merit, but because people put them there—to facilitate various profitable activities. But they’re investors. They are calculating and measured, and capable of sensing when risks begins to outweigh reward.

If they are watched closely, such that their trades and transactions, their own gains can’t escape public view, curiosity, and questions…as they sense eyes, attention, focused scrutiny, they’re not the type to waste time on investments with waning profit potential and increasing risk of penalty—or prosecution.

They will know when to cash out, cut their own and their associates’ losses, and seek the next.

They should feel encouraged to leave.

SharpVue’s Standard Fund Structures

Private equity companies and company structures are designed to protect company and investor cash and assets while confounding outsiders.

SharpVue Capital organizes its funds into two common structures:

• As individual limited liability companies—A limited liability company or LLC limits “Member” liability. Members in an LLCs have a share of ownership. The LLC limits Members’ liabilities to their initial investments.

• As limited liability companies nested within limited partnerships—Limited partnerships separate fund investors into General and Limited Partners, with General Partners assuming unlimited liability while gaining executive control, and Limited Partners ceding control to General Partners in exchange for limited liability.
  
  By creating a separate LLC and limited partnership, and then naming the LLC as the General Partner of the limited partnership rather than an individual, a firm can enjoy the benefits and protections of both business structures.

Conventional sv. Unconventional Naming Conventions

SharpVue Capital uses a common primary, and a common secondary naming convention for its funds.

This is a company preference.

• Primary naming convention: SharpVue Capital + [general investment descriptor]

• Secondary naming convention: SVC + [general investment descriptor]

In funds where an LLC is named as the fund General Partner, SharpVue notes this in the fund name with “GP,” after the [general investment descriptor].

A page from Roberts’ 2026 financial disclosure to illustrate:

Of the thirteen LLCs and one corporation Roberts names:

• two—New Roads Capital, LLC and Howso Incorporated—are not SharpVue Capital investment products.

• nine are named by the primary convention.

• two are named by the secondary convention.

• one, Roberts SV GP, LLC, is an impostor.

With SharpVue Capital funds, the company name or company initials in all caps precedes the [general product descriptor].

With Roberts SV GP, LLC, “Roberts” comes first—the initial clue that this business is something else, more personal and closely held.

“SV” gives the impression of the LLC being a SharpVue Capital fund, while omitting the “C” makes the combination of letters far less unique, and more difficult to find in searches.

That the LLC is noted as a General Partner should be most concerning…

SoloVue

SharpVue Capital works with attorneys when establishing their funds. They have a compliance team.

Roberts created Roberts SV GP, LLC by himself, through LegalZoom—an inexpensive self-service used by many small businesses.

Columns of Companies

On his 2026 financial disclosures, Roberts includes an extra worksheet to explain the relationships between his General Partner LLCs and the limited partnership funds they control.

Roberts SV GP, LLC is not named as a General Partner to any fund.

Either Roberts is using Roberts SV GP, LLC as the General Partner of a fund or funds he does not disclose—with unknown partners—or he has another use for the LLC, and a reason for designating it as something other than what it is…

In Practice

When a private equity firm launches a new fund, inviting new investors, the firm must file a Form D with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 15 days of the launch and initial sale.

The sections below are from the Form D Roberts filed for SharpVue Capital Credit Fund III in mid-October 2024.

Notably, Roberts launched this fund within a week of becoming UNC-Chapel Hill chancellor.

The fund itself is SharpVue Capital Credit Fund III, LP—a limited partnership…

…which is managed through a General Partner, SharpVue Capital Credit Fund III GP, LLC…

…which is co-owned and managed by Roberts.

Company Office

SharpVue Capital’s myriad funds are registered to the same company address in Raleigh. From SharpVue Capital, LLC’s 2026 annual report:

Roberts SV GP, LLC is not.

Same Address, Two Cities, Same Executive, Two Names

From its creation in 2019 until spring 2025, Roberts SV GP, LLC was registered to a residential address where, according to Wake County property records, Roberts lived for 20 years.

On Roberts’ 2025 Roberts SV GP, LLC annual report, Roberts lists the street address for the home where he lived for two decades as simultaneously located in both Raleigh and Chapel Hill.

In consecutive years, 2025 and 2026, Roberts lists addresses that do not exist as office locations for his Roberts SV GP, LLC.

Roberts also goes by two different names on the same filing.

As Registered Agent, he is “Lee Harriss Roberts;” as Company Official, he goes by “LH Roberts”—an atypical first name and combination of letters less likely to appear in searches.

He signs the document as LH Roberts.

Technical Timeline

From incorporation in 2019 until 2022, Roberts listed his Raleigh home address as the office location for Roberts SV GP, LLC.

On April 14, 2022, Roberts submitted his 2022 annual report for Roberts SV GP, LLC, then did not submit another filing for the LLC for thirty months.

Roberts eventually filed his 2023 annual report for Roberts SV GP, LLC, due in April 2023, in October 2024—using the opportunity to avoid submitting a 2024 annual report, at all.

For thirty months—including his first ten months as UNC-Chapel Hill chancellor—Roberts’ LLC was a phantom.

Then, on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, Roberts revived the fund…

…less than a week before becoming UNC-Chapel Hill chancellor on Friday, Oct. 11, 2024…

…then launching a fund the following Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, which brought Roberts and his partners $31 million within two weeks—and $243 million by the end of the semester.

Timing and Context for $243 Million

SharpVue Capital, as required, filed their Form D for SharpVue Capital Credit Fund III within two weeks of launching the fund.

In that time, the firm partners sold $31 million in unregistered securities to 23 new limited partners:

By winter break, the number of investors had grown to 51, with the total amount in assets increasing to $243 million.

A Public University Chancellor and a Private Equity Investor Share a P.O. Box

Companies must register a primary office location where the majority of their work is done.

Roberts SV GP, LLC’s principal office mailing address on its 2025 and 2026 annual reports is listed as 125 S. Estes Drive—which cannot be an office location…

…because it is the street address for a Chapel Hill Post Office.

Roberts is attempting to pass off a Post Office as his own business office.

In the adjacent mailing address field on the same form, Roberts lists a Post Office box featuring the same number “2066”—a P.O. Box number, not a suite number.

Day-to-Day Operations

While UNC-Chapel Hill Media Relations leans on the line that Roberts is no longer involved in day-to-day business with SharpVue Capital, Roberts maintains his own business in Chapel Hill…

Weekday Mailbox

For his first sixteen months as UNC-Chapel Hill chancellor, Roberts continued to live in Raleigh, 40 minutes from Chapel Hill, in the house he had listed as Roberts SV GP, LLC’s location for the previous six years.

Roberts could have received and responded to business mail when he arrived home, after work hours. He needs workday access to his business mail.

$$$

“[T]here will be a backlash against the accreditation agency and other alternative methods will start seeing itself and that’s not good for the whole system.”

–Richard Corcoran, president/lobbyist, New College of Florida
past member, Florida Board of Governors. May 15, 2021

You did not attend the July 11, 2025 meeting at which the Florida Board of Governors voted to move forward with incorporating the Commission for Public Higher Education.

View meeting (start: 44:45)

No counsel or representatives from any participating system or institution outside of Florida were present to provide critical evaluation of the process, design, and formation of the corporate structure on which Commission for Public Higher Education operations are set.

Over a tense hour and twenty minutes, attendees—governors, business and academic leaders, and attorneys—expressed doubts and apprehension over the hasty, frail set-up, budget and funding uncertainties, assumed liabilities, self-accreditation and credibility, and overall viability of the “start-up” accreditor.

Absorb this quote from Gov. Eric Silagy:

I think there’s just a huge number of risks that we haven’t necessarily addressed or identified [and] I’m really concerned about the structure not being in place from day one that will mitigate undue legal risk.”

Gov. Ken Jones asked the critical question, never receiving a direct answer:

“From a governance standpoint, I really think it’s important that we understand…what are we signing up for?”

“Founding” system counsels…do you know what you’ve been signed up for?

Florida’s $6 Million Taxpayer-Funded Investment in the Commission for Public Higher Education Budget Includes $2 Million for Anticipated Lawsuits

Passed 18 months before incorporation, line items in Florida’s 2024-2025 budget for “Implementation Expense” and “Litigation Expense” cryptically award state funds to the Florida Board of Governors, interpreted as for the creation of a new accrediting agency—$4 million in start-up capital and $2 million for anticipated lawsuits.

Chorus of Concern at Incorporation

Gov. Ed Haddock: “[The Commission] will probably get sued more than most businesses…”

Gov. Silagy: “It wouldn’t surprise me at all if there’s litigation around [the Commission], and yes, I think the Board of Governors and all those individually will be subject to that.”

Gov. Jones: “What I [am] concerned with [is]…the Board of Governors having vicarious liability…I’m sure that we’ve got a stable of high priced, outside talent lawyers that are looking at this, but …”

With an allocation of $6 million in taxpayer funds toward a project they did not understand, anticipating lawsuits they cannot predict or identify, the Florida Board of Governors elected to move forward with incorporation.

“Friends and Family” $6 Million a Guess, Gamble

Gov. Jones: “This is a Series A, right? Well, not even a series A, this is a seed round.

This is friends and family capital, right?”

Chair Brian Lamb: “Yeah, this is friends and family here, buddy”…

As Chair Lamb, referring to the state’s $6 million allocation of taxpayer money toward the Commission as “Friends and Family” cash, goes on to describe the sum as “not surgically designed,” Florida State University System counsel Rachel Kamoutsas responds to several governors’ requests for a basic budget document:

Gov. Jones: “And I think it would be instructive to see a budget for the first year, because I’m assuming we at least have that..?”

Chair Lamb: “…we don’t know what the long-term budget [is]…any points to reference, anything to quantify the next two three in here is just ballpark it?”

Kamoutsas: “I don’t have a […] I have an internal unofficial estimation around the funds and revenues, but nothing I’d be prepared and comfortable to put forward publicly.”

As the Commission shares office space, staff, equipment, resources, and technology with the Florida State University System, the $6 million represents less than the total taxpayer cost.

A version of a budget forecasting first-year expenses for the Commission of $2 million appears months later.

A 2026-2027 version shows just $440,000 of the estimated $2 million was spent in 2026—a miscalculation of over 450%.

The same agreement shows an estimated $1 million is to be spent by the Florida Board of Governors on Commission operations and expenses in the current year.

Governors Expressed Grave Concerns Over Student and Institutional Data Access, Sharing Vulnerabilities, and Liabilities. Their General Counsel Offered Little Clarity or Reassurance

Kamoutsas: “[Our] largest initial expense would be propping up a sophisticated website that’s capable to have a secure platform for exchange of information.”

Gov. Silagy: “…the intent is for [the Commission] to have direct access…the ability to pull data, do sampling, things of that nature, of each of the universities, correct?”

Kamoutsas: “Yes, I believe so.”

Gov. Silagy: ‘[This] creates a whole bunch of concerns around cyber for me…I’m trying to make sure we understand where all the risk points are. Right now, I’m seeing legal and cyber [and] IT as some of the biggest ones along with…all the other issues that just come with creating back offices for a start-up company.”

Gov. Jones: “Can [The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and The Higher Learning Commission] do that? Can they tap into university databases to pull data for—obviously very legitimate purposes here, we’re not concerned about that—but from a security standpoint, does that exist today? And that’s something that we’ve done in the past?”

Gov. Alan Levine: “I hope not.”

Kamoutsas: “I don’t know. I don’t know…”

Florida Rules

The Commission for Public Higher Education is presented as a consortium of equals.

It is not.

Commission bylaws at incorporation established the Florida Board of Governors as the sole “Member.”

“Member” is a legal term with supreme corporate governance, control, and ownership implications, requirements, and consequences.

From its outset, the Commission has been Florida-controlled and Florida-dominated.

Gov. Silagy called out a crude organizational chart graphic in the Commission’s business plan and featured in Kamoutsas’s presentation as representative of greater flaws in the design…

Gov. Silagy: “We have a tremendous amount of fiduciary responsibility based on that org chart, which is pretty rudimentary…I think it’s reflective of that, you having such a short period of time that we have so many open questions...”

Incorporated in Florida, by a Florida Lawmaker

Florida Division of Corporation filings submitted by Ray Rodrigues, chancellor of the Florida State University System, show Rodrigues is the sole incorporator of the Commission for Public Higher Education, a Florida company.

Florida laws apply.

For a decade—as a Florida state representative from 2012-2020, and then as a Florida state senator from 2020-2022—Rodrigues made Florida laws.

Nineteen of his Florida Senate colleagues—thirteen from his party—remain in office, including close collaborators on Florida Senate Bill 520…

On Florida Campuses, Rodrigues Blotted the Sunshine

As a state senator, Rodrigues drafted, sponsored, and championed CS/SB 520, passed into law as Fla. Stat. § 1004.098, the state Sunshine Law exemptions that allowed presidential searches in Florida to proceed in secret.

Rodrigues and his Watchdog Gang, a closed circle of long-time allies, used Rodrigues’ legislation to obfuscate sham presidential searches, awarding each other lucrative positions as Florida public university presidents in which they have enriched, and continue to enrich themselves, their allies, associates, and partners—including companies they had founded and owned, and companies founded by family members, sponsors, and political donors—with state funds and school and donor dollars.

If Rodrigues and his friends will manipulate state laws to profit millions from their own state’s public universities and tax base, what do you think their designs are for yours?

Rodrigues Pitches His Platform

Rodrigues’ final pitch to the Florida Board of Governors before requesting their blessing to incorporate the Commission was a recitation of past campaign platforms:

“We believe that the best way to improve the marketplace is to have more choices. And we believe that [the Commission for Public Higher Education] is a choice whose time has come.”

Rodrigues is the active chair of the political action committee Free Markets for Florida, which has raised and spent $2 million to further Rodrigues’ political career since 2017.

Government entrance into the marketplace is not a free market exercise.

It is a slippery slope towards communism.

Just One Governor’s Extracurriculars

Gov. Silagy, the Florida Board of Governors’ vice chair when the board voted to hire Rodrigues as Florida State University System chancellor on Sept. 15, 2022, is the former chairman, president and CEO of Florida Power & Light, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy, both significant contributors to Rodrigues’ past campaigns—creating the appearance or reality of indebtedness.

In January 2023, four months after voting to hire Rodrigues, Gov. Silagy resigned from his positions at Florida Power & Light amid multiple election interference-related scandals, including:

• Funneling “dark money” through political action committees and partisan nonprofits to disguise financing of spoiler “ghost candidates.”

• Using a fake name and backchannels while working through a “consulting” firm to hijack editorial control of a news site then used to attack political candidates and opponents.

• Surveilling an investigative journalist.

• Profiting $5.4 million through non-reporting and stock trading on insider information related to his own scandals.

While Gov. Silagy resigned from Florida Power & Light in early 2023, he remained on the Florida Board of Governors into 2026, completing his full governor-appointed term.

Subservient to Florida, From the Start: Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas

Gov. Jones: “I don’t mean to make Florida seem like the big dog in this conversation. I’m not disparaging Texas or South Carolina, North Carolina, but Florida’s the lead here, right?

We’re in the pole position to sort of dictate the conversation.”

Each of the six Commission “founding” systems receives a single director’s seat on a board of directors structured to allow for up to an additional five members, which the board can elect to appoint.

Each of the initial Commission “founding” system directors are registered in founding documents not at their home institutions or system offices, but at the Florida-owned Turlington Building, headquarters to the Florida Department of Education and home to the Florida Board of Governors.

Commission bylaws dictate that board directors serve at the pleasure of the Member(s) of the corporation—through the Commission’s first year, any “founding” system’s director could have been removed by Florida unilaterally and without recourse.

Structuring bylaws in this way has proven a profitable strategy for Florida State University System institutions.

What can happen when a Florida State University System institution amends bylaws to grant hiring and firing authority over school foundation directors to a favored politico-turned-public university president and lobbyist?

See, A Fight Over the New College of Florida Foundation.

Fallout included the foundation appropriating a restricted bequest to pay Corcoran’s salary.

Exclusive Executive Powers

While each “founding” system receives a director position, in submitting to Florida, permitting Florida to operate as sole corporate Member, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas systems forfeited “special executive powers” to Florida, including exclusive authority to:

• remove directors and participating systems

• rewrite bylaws

• transact business, including entering into contracts; and take on debt

• receive donations and bequests, including real estate and property; trade assets, including cash, real estate, and property; take out liens on property as collateral for purchases, projects, and expenses

• dissolve, merge, or sell the Commission for Public Higher Education

Commission’s First Year of Progress in Nine Sentences

In the closing minutes of day two of the Florida Board of Governors’ June 2026 meeting, Jason Jewell, Florida State University System vice chancellor of strategic initiatives and the Florida Board of Governors’ chosen Commission director, gave an update on the Commission’s progress.

Jewell offered nine sentences.

He then asked the Florida Board of Governors for a vote to approve amended articles of incorporation and bylaws for the Commission. The Florida Board of Governors, without questions, approved the request.

The exchange took three minutes.

No voices from any “founding” systems other than Florida were present.

Neither was the Commission’s newly-named chief executive officer.

Pre-Approved CEO

Prior to the June meeting, Commission directors hired Cameron Howell, secretary and trustee of the University of South Carolina Board of Trustees, as the Commission’s “inaugural” chief executive officer…

A state organization awarded $6 million in state funds
launched then operated for over a year
without a lead executive.

According to Jewell, Howell’s selection was made “after evaluating dozens of applicants.”

Howell had already been with the Commission for over a year, as one of three consulting founders, starting work in May 2025—two months before Rodrigues’ incorporation, and a month before the Commission was publicly announced.

The Commission first announced its search for a chief executive officer on May 4; then announced having hired Howell on June 17—a hiring timeline tracing Florida’s now-typified higher education executive hiring practice of sham and staged searches, predetermined outcomes, and selections of politically-aligned collaborators or compliant new insiders with shared financial interests.

Commission’s Commitment Issues

At the meeting, Jewell announced that the Commission had secured letters of financial commitment from the University of North Carolina System and the University System of Georgia.

The University of North Carolina System, to purchase their Membership, promised $1.8 million over three years.

The University System of Georgia promised $2.35 million over three years, however opting to become a Corporate Affiliate, gaining privileges while foregoing direct ownership, gaining insulation from liability.

These were the first cash contributions from any “founding” system other than Florida, with the only outside contributions of any kind to this point having been loans of “in-kind” state employee time, and only from North Carolina and South Carolina.

Georgia’s investment is 38% of Florida’s initial upfront investment.

North Carolina’s investment is 30% of Florida’s initial upfront investment.

South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas are yet to make financial commitments to the Commission.

One year after incorporation, with costs to join the Commission steeply discounted, with one “founding” system opting for Corporate Affiliate rather than Member status, and with three of six “founding” systems holding out on financial commitments to the Commission, this hardly signals collective confidence in the project.

Accreditor-in-Training

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) currently accredits most of Florida’s 12 State University System institutions and 28 Florida College System local-state and community colleges, with a handful of institutions having recently switched or pursuing switching their accreditor to the Higher Learning Commission.

SACSCOC and the Higher Learning Commission have rigorous processes for determining whether a school can be accredited and reaccredited.

Florida schools seeking reaccreditation from SACSCOC on a timeline paralleling the incorporation of the Commission will progress through several steps and stages, including months of planning and surveys, off-site and peer reviews completed by experienced evaluators; with substantial work being completed by faculty, staff, administration, and trustees.

An on-site visit would not be scheduled until early 2028, with a board review for accreditation in December 2028.

In contrast, after incorporating in mid-July 2025, the Commission quickly received letters of intent from ten schools from within the Commission’s colleges network—belonging to one of the “founding” systems—to seek accreditation from the Commission.

According to Jewell:

“We’re moving through the evaluation process with our first cohort of institutional applicants, evaluation teams are currently being trained, and our first site visit is scheduled for early August.

We expect to make our first accreditation decision at our board meeting that’s scheduled for October.”

While the Commission’s one-year timeline is for new institutions seeking accreditation, SACSCOC’s three-year timeline is for reaccreditations.

SACSCOC’s timeline for accepting and accrediting new institutions requires substantial additional onboarding time—“from several months to one or more years depending on the institution.”

The Commission is aiming to complete a process that takes Florida’s current accreditor four or more years, in a single year, using trainees.

Timeline Realities of Recognition

Higher education institutions must be accredited to qualify to receive federal funds, so as to safeguard against tax dollars being awarded to spurious or fly-by-night institutions of low quality and low value, and from theft.

Aspiring accreditors must be similarly vetted—evaluated over an extended period of time and commitment, to ensure that bad actors do not launch accreditors and colleges in tandem as a strategy to bilk the federal government, deserving institutions, faculty and students.

Kamoutsas summarized the process timeline for the Florida Board of Governors:

“Initially, the first two years, we would have to engage in startup actions and pre-accreditation activities…”

…while citing the urgency of “starting the clock” on beginning accreditation activities, as…

…[the Commission] must demonstrate that it has granted accreditation or pre-accreditation to one or more institutions for at least two years before seeking recognition…”

…alluding to a timeline dependent on the the Trump administration for recognition—a timeline the Trump administration would shorten dramatically in early 2026 to the Commission’s great benefit.

Reciprocation and Recognition

The Department of Education under the Trump administration has been a Commission booster—awarding $1 million in funding to the Commission while issuing new interpretations of established procedures that reduce the time minimum before an aspiring accreditor can seek recognition by two years or more.

Federal support and endorsement have not come cheap.

The Florida Board of Governors, Florida State University System, and Florida College System institutions—led by over a dozen presidents and executives elected or appointed from the same pool of politicians and allies as Rodrigues—have been spending millions in state and donor dollars to lobby the White House, Department of Education, and other federal agencies.

An oversize amount of the funds being spent to lobby are being spent with firms founded by, or with family and close ties to, Corcoran.

Hitting the Ground Running…Into a Wall

While having a built-in network of affiliated institutions allows the Commission to jumpstart practice accreditation activities, Gov. Kimberly Dunn, the lone faculty representative and sole academic on the Florida Board of Governors, calls attention to a fatal flaw in the Commission’s concept:

Gov. Dunn: “I would like to see maybe a prohibition of [the Commission] auditing the [Florida State University System] institutions until after additional independence is achieved.”

Gov. Levine fills in the realities of the controlling body of a university system becoming the accreditor of that university system’s institutions:

Gov. Levine: “Gov. Dunn is right. If we even have optics that we’re controlling this entity, we wouldn’t be approvable…it wouldn’t be approvable by the Department of Education to begin with…, and frankly, no other state university in any other state would want to be accredited by [the Commission].”

Mock Accreditations

Jewell’s statement that the Commission plans to issue its first accreditation decision in October 2026 comes with the caveat—that these decisions will be ceremonial and immaterial.

Colleges from the Commission colleges network that the Commission is practicing on are currently under evaluation for real accreditation in the ordinary course of business by SACSCOC.

Kamoutsas outlays the Commission’s design:

“[T]he idea is to overlay and offer the accreditation service on top of an institution that’s currently accredited by an established accreditor….”

“We would not charge them, the institutions, for that service”…

The Commission, per its own website, will not expect to seek recognition as an accreditor until, at the earliest, late 2027, nor payment for its services.

Petitioning for recognition is the first, not the final step, in a long and complex process to formally becoming an accreditor.

Kamoutsas outlaid the next stages of the process for the Florida Board of Governors: that, if qualifying for recognition by the Department of Education, the Commission then must:

“…undergo a review by the [Department of Education’s] liaison, undergo a separate review and appearance before an advisory by [the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity] that will ultimately make a recommendation to [the Department of Education]; and then finally establish a federal link for eligibility—which means one institution must represent that it intends to seek accreditation from [the Commission].”

An *Outsider* in the Cohort

In an initial cohort of ten schools which have consented to allow Commission evaluator-trainees to practice accreditation activities on them, only one, Chipola College, is from outside of the Commission colleges network.

Chipola College does not belong to the Florida State University System. Rather, it belongs to the Florida College System of state-local and community colleges.

The chancellor of the Florida College System is a direct report to the Florida education commissioner, who holds an ex officio seat on the Florida Board of Governors.

While the final step for the Commission in qualifying as an accreditor will be for an institution to commit to seeking accreditation from the Commission, the institution can’t be one of their own.

The absence of institutions eligible for actual accreditation in their initial cohort complicates the timeline or path to recognition, creating obstacles to solvency that undermine viability.

Dependency, Solvency

Periodic influxes of state cash are not a substitute for revenue, and an aspiring accreditor must demonstrate solvency to be recognized.

Kamoutsas: “Once CPHE is formally recognized as an accreditor for Title IV gatekeeping purposes, revenue will be generated through membership fees that pay for accreditation services.”

As the Commission cannot charge to complete practice accreditations, it will continue without a source of revenue for over two years, and potentially far longer.

Even as the Florida Board of Governors voted to move forward with incorporation, Rodrigues and Kamoutsas could not offer a guesstimate for potential future Commission revenue.

Gov. Ashley Bell Barnett: What is the expectation or the funding projections for year two, three, and four as we look ahead?

Kamoutsas: I think that’s going to be commiserate [sic.] with the amount of institutions that will seek accreditation by [the Commission]…”

Business Math

The Commission states their aim is for their accreditation services to cost far less than all other accreditors in the market.

The Commission will not accept private schools for accreditation services.

The Commission is not seeking to accredit community colleges that do not award bachelor’s degrees.

Where the lack of independence from “founding” systems will compromise the accrediting process, Commission-affiliated colleges and universities cannot be accredited by the Commission—over 80 of their own institutions.

Overlapping interests and influence at state-local and community colleges exclude more institutions.

Accreditations are typically required to be completed every six to ten years. Schools develop long-term relationships with accreditors, lasting multiple cycles and often decades.

Institutions will not switch accreditors mid-accreditation, leaving any window during which institutions may be shopping for a new accreditor extremely small.

Institutions, in regards to accreditation, are exceedingly averse to novelty and uncertainty.

A public comment from a Florida State University professor preceding the Florida Board of Governors’ vote to incorporate the Commission called out the Commission as “a solution in search of a problem”—one of the most common pitfalls for start-ups.

As a start-up, the Commission’s launch strategy is to penetrate a self-limited fraction of a small, closed-off market with a discount product carrying heavy political baggage; with no budget, financial projections or planning, and no customer acquisition strategies in place.

Hypothetical: Business Math, Forgiving Self-Accreditation

Of the initial cohort of ten Commission college network schools, their accreditation reaffirmation schedules are as follows:

• two are due for reaffirmation in 2026—these schools are actively being accredited by SACSCOC. While Commission evaluator-trainees are piggybacking on the effort, the Commission will not be recognized and authorized as an accreditor, if at all, in time to provide real accreditation to these schools, which will then not be due for reaccreditation until 2036.

• three are due for reaffirmation in 2029—these schools are the only potential customers in need of accreditation services around the time the Commission plans to enter the market.

• one is due for reaffirmation in 3032.

• two are due for reaffirmation in 2034.

• two are due for reaffirmation in 2035.

If the Commission were to achieve recognition and authorization as an accreditor, two-thirds of the Commission’s initial cohort of ten network colleges could not become paying customers until the mid-2030s.

Perils of a Free Market

While a free market expands, contracts, and adapts to meet consumer demand, no school outside of the captive Commission colleges network market has expressed intentions to seek Commission accreditation.

The perceived quality of a school is reflected in its accreditor, and vice versa.

States want their public college and university systems to be perceived as prestigious and high-quality, and will not wish to be accredited by an accreditor that has, or is perceived to have, substandard quality and standards, or be cheap, or unpopular, or fast—or be controlled by, or perceived to be controlled by, the political machinery of another state or other states.

In a free market, where customers are not compelled, demand, not state backing, signals value.

What Say So Long South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas...?

South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas, as holdouts on financial commitments to the Commission, leave themselves vulnerable to removal by “founding” systems that make Membership and Affiliate payments.

With a three-member corporate board in the Florida, North Carolina, and Georgia university systems, bylaws empower a two-member majority to remove directors from other “founding” systems who’ve not put in cash.

A coalition of just two members can bully and manipulate the board, pressure non-paying “founding” systems into paying up; wrest authority, and consolidate board control.

The current board, in addition to having directors from each “founding” system, has two elected directors, including the current chair.

While the board of directors voted to hire Howell, if Georgia wants him out, they will only have to convince Florida or North Carolina.

Georgia paid $2.35 million to guarantee in writing that they would “have input into the selection and removal of any president of CEO of [the Commission].”

Exclusive benefits are costly.

Seats for Sale? Door Open for Philanthropic and Corporate Pay-to-Play

While unable to rely on revenue, with “founding” systems withholding financial support, Kamoutsas had pointed to “anticipated corporate partners and philanthropists” as a tertiary source of Commission revenue—and a primary threat to Commission independence.

The Commission is a remote-first enterprise headquartered in shared office space in a state building.

There is no campus architecture to sell naming rights to—no new construction, student centers, halls, stadiums classrooms; no scholarships, no professorships to endow, no museums, no programs, no centers…

Support dollars for Commission-affiliated institutions will be gifted to, and through, the institutions themselves and their well-established fundraising channels and apparatus.

Corporate or philanthropic sponsors will want something for their contributions to the Commission. All the Commission has to trade or sell is access, director seats, ownership, and control.

*Nonprofit* Positioning

While the Commission expresses intentions to become a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, with their application pending, amended corporate bylaws do not contain the word “nonprofit.”

Currently, the Commission operates as a Florida not-for-profit corporation.

Nonprofit and not-for-profit are not the same:

• A nonprofit is a federal, Internal Revenue Service-recognized, tax-exempt business category, for taxation purposes, for public benefit-focused enterprises.

• A not-for-profit is a state-level classification for businesses which are established to further a member mission. They are required to reinvest profits after expenses—which can include high salaries and spending.

Tax-exempt nonprofits submit federal tax filings which require detailed disclosures.

Non-exempt not-for-profits submit a one-page annual report which lists company officials and little else.

On Borrowed Budget

With its financial status in flux, the $6 million in state funds allocated as “seed capital” and for preemptive legal defense for the Commission are not held in Commission accounts or controlled by Commission authority.

The Commission receives a preauthorized and budgeted allowance for operations and expenses from the Florida Board of Governors.

The state-allocated start-up funds have been banked by the state in accounts belonging to the state and Florida Board of Governors Foundation.

This, says Kamoutsas, is intentional, so as to maintain Florida’s exclusive control of Commission finances.

Paid For *Privately*

The Florida Board of Governors Foundation is governed by a board of directors comprised of the Florida Board of Governors and additional directors of their choosing.

The Florida Board of Governors has no employees.*

It controls minimal assets.

Its growth is non-existent.

In 2011, the Florida Board of Governors Foundation reported total assets of $5.7 million. As of 2024, the Foundation reports total assets of $7.3 million.

For comparison, $5.7 million invested in 2011 in an S&P 500 index fund would be worth over $40 million today.

The Florida Board of Governors Foundation, until formation of the Commission, served only two functions: award student scholarships, and pay Ray Rodrigues’ salary.

While Rodrigues’ salary is funded through a foundation grant, the same amount is paid back to the State of Florida for the stated purpose of “ASSIST STATE.”

Florida law caps what the state can legally pay toward the salary its of public higher education executives, including Rodrigues.

The shuffling of funds between accounts and publicly-controlled private charities serves to sever the funds from their source, a technical reclassification functioning as a workaround for state restrictions on payment of Rodrigues’ salary.

See-Through, Pass-Through Corporate Veil

While they exist as separate entities on paper, as governors make small, inconsistent efforts to distinguish between them rhetorically at shared meeting events, there is no daylight between the Florida Board of Governors and the Florida Board of Governors Foundation.

The Florida Board of Governors, throughout their July 2025 meeting at which they discussed and then elected to move forward with incorporation of the Commission, mentioned the Florida Board of Governors Foundation by name 23 times—outside of the superficially separate Florida Board of Governors Foundation meeting held immediately following.

Chair Lamb, in a sentence designed to separate board and foundation business, conjoins them:

Gov. Lamb: “I will adjourn the full board meeting and move us quickly into the foundation board meeting.”

While Gov. Levine emphasizes the imperative of a corporate veil throughout the incorporation meeting four times, including:

Gov. Levine: “…I think it needs to have an exclamation point put behind it...the issue of a so-called or proverbial corporate veil…”

Kamoutsas understands this to be legally impracticable:

Kamoutsas: “So this is a certainly a fine line that the Board of Governors and [the Commission] will be needing to walk…”

A start-up, controlled by a governor-appointed governing body, with the governing body serving as a Member of the start-up’s corporate body, launched by state employees working on state equipment using state technology and resources, cannot achieve independence.

Unless the start-up can be sold…

Fail or Sale? $42,000 for “CPHE.org”—and “CPHE.com”

Internal reports show CPHE expenses include $42,000 to purchase “www.CPHE.org” and “www.CPHE.com” domains—telegraphing plans for future for-profit enterprises.

Foundation Holds Commission Purse—and Plug

While North Carolina’s and Georgia’s university systems have transferred or are expected to transfer $1.8 million and $2.35 million respectively to the Commission over the next three years, the Commission’s 2026-2027 budget reflects that funding will continue to be disbursed exclusively from Florida state funds held in Florida Board of Governors Foundation accounts.

This budget is established in an agreement between the Florida Board of Governors and the Commission.

This agreement also establishes critical terms of the relationship between the Member and authority of its directors, including that either party can terminate the financial the relationship with 60 days notice; and that if the Commission chooses to sever the relationship, it must return funds to the Florida Board of Governors Foundation.

Contributions made to the Commission kept in Florida Board of Governors Foundation accounts will be kept.

Beyond corporate Membership, Florida retains two external layers of ultimate control:

• Florida can cease funding to the Commission.

• Florida can manipulate the legal environment, including changing laws, to exit obligations to the Commission—as they have done with their current accreditor.

*A NOTE FOR JOURNALISTS:

As the Florida Board of Governors has no employees, all foundation business is transacted by public employees…if a private foundation is operated by public employees using public equipment and technology, the foundation’s documents and communications are all subject to FOIA.

Submit your records requests to the Florida Board of Governors here.

Rodrigues is Florida’s Highest-Paid Public Official

Rodrigues is paid a $600,000 base salary and up to a 20% performance bonus while receiving a $75,000 annual housing stipend and $12,000 annual car allowance.

He is Florida’s highest-paid public official.

Not just within the Florida State University System—of all Florida public agencies.

While two-thirds of Rodrigues’ $600,000 salary is taxpayer funded, Florida law caps Florida State University System spending on state college and university chief executive salaries.

For Rodrigues, up to $280,000, nearly 40% of his salary, is paid through the Florida Board of Governors Foundation, obscuring the source or sources.

Rodrigues’ First Start-Up

Prior to filing to incorporate the Commission, Raymond Wesley Rodrigues had never formed a company in Florida.

Immediately prior to his start as chancellor of the Florida State University System, Ray Rodrigues was a part-time, non-executive director with limited management duties at Florida Gulf Coast University.

His last raise came in January 2019, when he received a salary bump from $71,500 to $82,000.

Rodrigues is not a tech executive.

He is not an entrepreneur.

The Florida legislature gave him $6 million to start his first business.

DeSantis’ First Start-Up

Failed.

DEI Misdirection

As Florida State University System chancellor, Rodrigues has celebrated the “dismantling of the DEI bureaucracy that has grown up on our campuses.”

Rodrigues built that bureaucracy.

As Florida’s House majority leader, Rodrigues pressed for and passed pro-Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion legislation (start: 41:39).

As a Florida Gulf Coast University employee—while simultaneously a Florida state senator—Rodrigues reliably scored “exceeds expectations” in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion categories on performance reviews.

Chair Lamb, appointed to the Florida Board of Governors by Governor Ron DeSantis, twice elected Florida Board of Governors chair by the governors themselves, authored the Florida Board of Governors’ Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies.

He presented the policies to the Florida Board of Governors (minute: 1:12:53) and guided implementation across the Florida State University System.

The two most consequential individuals in the incorporation, management, and oversight of the Commission for Public Higher Education at its launch and throughout its incubation are closeted advocates and champions for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Rodrigues: “Part of the inspiration for moving towards a new accreditor is a belief that some of the institutional accreditors that are out there now, the national accreditors, have abused their authority to push their preferred curriculum on the institutions.”

Incorporation of the Commission has nothing to do with ideology, and nothing to do with impartiality.

The Core Commission Contradiction

The Commission cannot achieve its one stated aim.

While sold as a mode of escape from ideological influence of biased accreditors for “founding” system institutions, the Commission’s recognition as an accreditor would not exempt Commission network institutions from requirements for independence from their accreditors.

While a recognized Commission could accredit schools from outside “founding” systems, Commission network colleges would continue to rely on existing accreditors for their own accreditation.

“There is a ‘scrivener’s error’ that includes a paragraph permitting transactions with the [Commission]…”

In presenting bylaws to the Florida Board of Governors for review prior to incorporation, Kamoutsas “sidebars” to a “scrivener’s error” which she recommends the governors discount:

“I do want to take a brief moment and sidebar to point out that there is a scrivener’s error that includes a paragraph permitting transactions with the corporation in Article 8, Section 1 of the bylaws…

That section was not intended to be included in the bylaws, so I would, I recommend that the motion reflect that removal of that section is incorporated.”

A “scrivener’s error” is a minor error in transcription of a legal document.

The language of Article 8 Section 1 in the proposed Commission bylaws, much longer than a paragraph, if inadvertently included, was not scripted without deliberate care and betrays the true intended function of the Commission corporate.

Written with the input of Howell, then a consultant, now Commission chief executive officer, the stricken section envisions the Commission as a mechanism to facilitate trade for governors and trustees looking to find new institutional customers for products and services sold by companies under their ownership and control.

The Commission’s function is not to expand choice in the market of accreditors.

It is to expand and create markets for the governors.

Genesis of the Corcoran Commission

In March of 2020, in a farewell address from the House floor two years after Corcoran had departed the House, Rodrigues proclaimed that he would be “forever in the debt of Speaker Corcoran.”

This is a debt he continues to accrue, and to make payments towards…

In 2010 and 2012, Corcoran and Rodrigues respectively, entered the Florida House of Representatives.

In 2016, Corcoran was elected House speaker, with Corcoran in turn naming Rodrigues his House majority leader.

In 2017, Corcoran launched Watchdog PAC to fund a run for Florida governor, naming Rodrigues to his eight-member fundraising committee.

Rodrigues’ own Free Markets for Florida PAC gifted $25,000 to Corcoran’s Watchdog PAC.

In May 2021, Corcoran, seated on the Florida Board of Governors, applied to the subservient Florida State University Board of Trustees to become Florida State University president.

SACSCOC, in a letter shared with the Florida Board of Governors, expressed concern that Corcoran could assert undue influence in his own hiring.

Corcoran, indignant, retorted:

“SACS[COC] needs [Florida State University] and needs Florida more than Florida and [Florida State University] need SACS[COC]…SACS[COC] is going down a path that if it continues over the next three, four, or five years, there will be a backlash against the accreditation agency and other alternative methods will start seeing itself and that’s not good for the whole system.”

Rodrigues, then a Florida state senator, in response sponsored Senate Bill 7074, passed in mid-March 2022…

“[P]rohibiting public postsecondary institutions from being accredited by the same agency or association for consecutive accreditation cycles…”

…which forced Florida State University System institutions to break from their established accreditor in SACSCOC.

By July 2022, Rodrigues had applied to become chancellor of the Florida State University System, with Corcoran’s Florida Board of Governors making Rodrigues chancellor and the highest-paid Florida public employee in November 2022.

By February 2023, Rodrigues’ Florida Board of Governors confirmed Corcoran as interim president of New College of Florida.

In November 2023, Rodrigues’ Florida Board of Governors confirmed Corcoran as permanent New College of Florida president, approving a contract for Corcoran with an annual salary worth up to $1.3 million—three times that of his predecessor.

By July 2024, the Rodrigues-led Florida Board of Governors had entered into two separate contracts, one for one million-dollars, and a second worth $160,000 per year, with a lobbying firm Corcoran had founded while on the Florida Board of Governors and continued as partner and owner in, into his second year as New College president.

In February 2025, Corcoran awarded contracts from New College funds worth between $100,000 and $180,000 to the same lobbying firm.

In July 2025, Rodrigues, in a meeting to incorporate the Commission for Public Higher Education, announced:

In fixing the Florida Board of Governors, Corcoran, Rodrigues, and their allies, associates, and sponsors broke the Florida State University System.

Each of the 40 Florida State University System and Florida College System universities and colleges are now vulnerable to losing their accreditations at their next cycle.

In Sum

You may perceive that you have fast partners in an excitingly shrewd new business venture.

You are a prop for a desperate misdirection and frantic, unworkable fix—a logo band-aid on a self-inflicted wound gone septic.

As you put your own skin in the game, be mindful—infections spread.

These are the partners you’re mixing your money and risking your reputations with.

$$$

A debt of gratitude for this article is owed to Mike Sanderson, the Florida Board of Governors’ and Florida State University System’s most dedicated, prolific, and diligent watchdog, whose research and insights informed several key sections.

Visit www.mikesand.com for some testy, singular insights and damning analysis of the Florida Board of Governors’ and Florida State University System’s brazen, suspect activities and antics.

An additional debt of gratitude is owed to the Project Unapparelled network of higher education and development professionals, technologists, and attorneys, for their shared insight, analysis, and inside awareness of Florida Board of Governors and Florida State University System business, nonprofit business best practices and accreditation standards.

Ray Rodrigues’ last day as a Florida state senator was Nov. 8, 2022—Election Day. The following day, Rodrigues joined the Florida State University System as co-chancellor.

Rodrigues’ first action was to lead the Florida Board of Governors’ hearing and final vote to confirm Ben Sasse, United States senator from Nebraska, as president of the University of Florida, Florida’s flagship public university.

The Florida Board of Governors is the governor-appointed 17-member controlling body of the Florida State University System.

Rodrigues had applied for the chancellor position months earlier, in mid-June, less than two weeks after his predecessor announced that he would be stepping down at the expiration of his contract that December.

While the Board of Governors staged a search to fill the chancellor role, that Rodrigues would become chancellor predated any search or vote—potentially by months, more likely by years.

The Board of Governors voted Rodrigues to become chancellor in mid-September 2022, expecting a start date in January after his predecessor’s departure.

Rodrigues couldn’t wait that long.

Friends in Places

Richard Corcoran, as speaker of the Florida House during the 2016-2018 legislative session, selected Ray Rodrigues to be his House majority leader.

Two years after Corcoran’s departure, in his farewell speech from the House floor, Rodrigues proclaimed to his House colleagues that he would be “forever in the debt of Richard Corcoran” for awarding him his House leadership position.

After a decade, Rodrigues continues to pay this debt.

Choreography and First Contract

In May 2022, as Rodrigues made preparations before becoming chancellor, Corcoran resigned as state education commissioner to become a founding partner in Continental Strategy, a lobbying firm; at the same time receiving a governor’s appointment to the Florida Board of Governors.

The Board of Governors’ vote to name Rodrigues chancellor was held on Sept. 14, 2022; the same board voted to confirm Sasse as president of the University of Florida less than a month later, on Nov. 9, 2022.

Within seven days of Sasse’s confirmation, on Nov. 16, 2022, Corcoran, registered with the state as a new lobbyist for UF Health, the University of Florida’s healthcare system.

Corcoran would now lobby the governor’s office exclusively on behalf of the state’s flagship university and state healthcare system—profiting from his position as an appointed public official through activities with, and ownership in, a private lobbying firm.

UF Health would be the first in a procession of new Corcoran-linked lobbying contracts with State University System schools led by executives Rodrigues, Corcoran, and their collaborators helped put in office, in what would become a familiar pattern, punctuated by standardized spoils.

—$—

The next three sections are summary background for new readers. If you have been following, you can skip these sections to find new reporting on the mechanisms and money that made Adam Hasner and Marva Johnson presidents of Florida Atlantic University and Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, respectively. Scroll down, follow the —$—.

For a more in-depth analysis, see: “The Watchdog Gang: How a Small Fraternity of Corcoran-Linked PAC Alums Colluded to Get Rich Corrupting the Florida State University System”

A Pattern Emerges…

Since electing Rodrigues as State University System chancellor, the Florida Board of Governors has hired six new State University System school presidents.

The process by which each has become chief executive of their institution follows a general pattern:

1. An all-at-once appointing spree by the governor forces an allied majority on a State University System school board of trustees.

2. The new trustees force out the school’s president over abstract accusations and force in an interim president who is, or who has long-time political and financial ties to, Richard Corcoran.

3. The trustees name a search committee to conduct a sham presidential search in secret, exempted from Florida Sunshine Law by legislation pushed and passed by Rodrigues.

4. Six months later, give or take, the interim president who is, or who has long-time political and financial ties to Richard Corcoran, is named the sole finalist to become the school’s permanent president. Allied trustees vote the search committee’s pick.

5. The Board of Governors, with two alumni of Corcoran’s Watchdog PAC fundraising committee as members; and a State University System led by Rodrigues, also an alumnus of Corcoran’s Watchdog PAC, confirm the interim executive as permanent.

6. Trustees recommend, and the Board of Governors confirms, a salary for the new president of two to four times that of their predecessor.

7. The new president signs their institution up for a lobbying contract with Continental Strategy.

…and Partners Emerge…

• Ray Rodrigues: chancellor, Florida State University System; “Watchdog”

• Richard Corcoran: founding partner, Continental Strategy; member, Florida Board of Governors; president, New College of Florida; “Watchdog”

• Ben Sasse: president (former), University of Florida

• José Oliva: member, Florida Board of Governors; “Watchdog”

• Carlos Trujillo: founding partner, Continental Strategy; “Watchdog”

• Jeanette Nuñez: president, Florida International University; “Watchdog”

• Adam Hasner: president, Florida Atlantic University

• Marva Johnson: president, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

• Moez Limayem: president, University of North Florida; president, University of South Florida

• Manny Diaz, Jr.: member, Florida Board of Governors; president, University of West Florida; “Watchdog”

… and Breaks Reveal…

• “Watchdog” Trujillo, as the founding partner and an active lobbyist with Continental Strategy, collects millions in State University System funds as disbursements as a vendor, rather than paychecks as an employee.

• “Watchdog” Corcoran claims, via New College Communications, to have sold his ownership interest in Continental Strategy in March 2024—his fourth semester as president of New College. Within a year of this buyout, Corcoran entered New College into lobbying contracts with Continental Strategy worth between $100,000 and $180,000.

• “Watchdog” Rodrigues entered his Florida Board of Board of Governors into two contracts with Continental Strategy, three months after Corcoran’s buyout; one worth $1 million, and another, to subcontract with a second firm, Ballard Partners, worth $160,000 per year.

• “Watchdog” Nuñez signed Florida International University up for two contracts: one with Continental Strategy worth $120,000 per year; and a second with Corcoran Partners, the lobbying firm founded by Corcoran’s younger brother Michael and sister-in-law Jessica, also worth $120,000 per year.

• Limayem*, enlisted by Rodrigues, allowed his University of North Florida to serve as the fiscal agent for the Board of Governors’ $1 million contract with Continental Strategy; then signed his university on for its own $180,000 per year contract with the firm.

• “Watchodog” Diaz did not enter his University of West Florida into a lobbying agreement with Continental strategy, instead entering the university into a $120,000 per year lobbying contract with Corcoran Partners.

*Limayem stands out as a qualified academic leader, and whose tenure as president of the University of North Florida predates Rodrigues’ as chancellor.

After entering his University of North Florida into two agreements with Continental Strategy, Limayem landed a promotion of sorts—becoming president of the University of South Florida, where he inherited two longstanding lobbying agreements with Corcoran Partners totaling $360,000 per year and a $53 million satellite campus to be transferred to Corcoran’s New College; and saw an annual salary increase from ~$800,000 to ~$2.4 million.

—$—

Plot Variations, Not Twists

In hiring Florida Atlantic University President Adam Hasner and Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University President Marva Johnson, school trustees and the Board of Governors broke from the pattern in the same three ways—

1. Neither were members of Corcoran’s House leadership team or Watchdog PAC fundraising committee.

2. Neither served an interim term before being elected president of their respective university, assuming the permanent role from the outset.

3. Neither entered their institution into a contract with the lobbying firm founded by Corcoran, or with the lobbying firm founded by his brother and sister-in-law, or with both.

Their lobbying contracts with Continental Strategy were already in place.

Marva Johnson

Charter Communications is Marva Johnson’s immediate past employer, where she oversaw lobbying operations as group vice president of state government affairs.

Johnson, as chair of the State Board of Education, was instrumental in hiring Corcoran as state education commissioner.

She was also one of Corcoran’s first four clients as a lobbyist at Continental Strategy, awarding Corcoran a contract with Charter Communications in the same September Rodrigues became State University System chancellor.

Continental Strategy’s current agreement with Charter Communications is worth $360,000 per year.

Corcoran, having held his ownership interest in Continental Strategy into his second year as New College president, continued to collect his share of Johnson’s Charter Communications contract with Continental Strategy.

Adam Hasner

The GEO Group is Adam Hasner’s immediate past employer, where he oversaw lobbying operations as executive vice president of public policy.

Hasner entered the GEO Group into a $600,000 per year lobbying contract with Continental Strategy, on Nov. 15, 2024—and was named president of Florida Atlantic University three months later, on Feb. 10, 2025…

…ten days after Limayem’s University of North Florida entered into its $180,000 per year contract with Continental Strategy; and three days after Florida International University trustees named Nuñez president of Florida International University, while on the same day Nuñez’s new institution entered into its new $120,000 per year lobbying agreement with Continental Strategy; and five days before Corcoran entered New College into its new $100,000-$180,000 per year lobbying agreements with Continental Strategy.

It was a very profitable February for Continental Strategy.

The GEO Group, under Hasner, made significant contributions to further Corcoran’s and Rodrigues’ political careers:

• In 2015, through his campaign and Florida Roundtable PAC, Corcoran received $4,000 from the GEO Group.

• In 2016, Adam Hasner was hired at the GEO Group; that year, through his Florida Roundtable PAC, Corcoran received $25,000 from GEO Group.

• In 2017, through his campaign, Florida Roundtable PAC, and Watchdog PAC, Corcoran received $40,000 from GEO Group.

• Between 2017 and 2021, Ray Rodrigues, through his campaign, Free Markets of Florida PAC, and Friends of Ray Rodrigues PAC, received $23,000 from the GEO Group.

Family and Friends Business

Brian Ballard, founding partner of the lobbying firm Ballard Partners and an early sponsor of Michael Corcoran, recalled in a 2020 feature article on Corcoran Partners in Influence Magazine that:

“There were news reports that tried to link Michael’s legislative success to Richard [but] the criticism never stuck, especially because both men did a magnificent job navigating that.”

Susie Wiles, current White House chief of staff, was managing partner of Ballard Partners’ Jacksonville office from 2011-2019. Katie Wiles, her daughter, is a director of Continental Strategy’s Jacksonville and Washington, D.C. offices.

James Blair, Susie Wiles’ deputy chief of staff, is the brother of Matthew Blair, Michael Corcoran’s partner in Corcoran Partners; and who Richard Corcoran had hired as his “right hand man”—who chaired Corcoran’s Watchdog PAC.

• Corcoran entered New College into a lobbying agreement with Ballard Partners before the end of his first month at New College, worth $120,000 per year.

• Rodrigues’ Board of Governors’ second contract with Continental Strategy, to subcontract with Ballard Partners and worth $160,000, came three months after Corcoran claims to have been bought out by his firm.

• With Hasner named president on Feb. 10, 2025, Florida Atlantic University entered into a lobbying contract with Ballard Partners worth $120,000 per year on Oct. 1, 2025.

• Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University entered into a lobbying contract with Ballard Partners worth $120,000 per year, on March 1, 2025—with Johnson being named FAMU president on June 18, 2025.

—$—

Unanswered Questions

For the Florida Atlantic University Foundation

Good morning [FAU Foundation representative],

I hope you had an excellent Thanksgiving and holiday break.

I am a policy student and freelance journalist working on a story expected for publication in [publication], about the business background of unconventional college presidents.

One tangent item that caught my attention is that in the final quarter of 2022, as President Kelly was stepping down, FAU entered into an agreement with the lobbying firm Corcoran Partners.

Something I’m scratching my head about, in the midst of a major leadership transition, why would FAU make establishing a long-term agreement with a lobbying firm a priority?

Can you perhaps put this in context that will help me understand?

Thank you!

–[Higher Ed Heist]

For Former University of Florida President Ben Sasse

Good morning Ben,

I hope you had an excellent Thanksgiving holiday and break.

I am a policy student and freelance reporter working on a story expected for publication in the [publication].

I have noticed, that since your installation at UF, many Florida State University system schools have developed a lobbying relationship with a firm founded by Richard Corcoran, Continental Strategy. As a Board Governor, Corcoran voted to approve your installation. Around the same time, Shands first hired Continental Strategy as a lobbying partner.

I also noted, after your travel to Arizona State University, ASU became the sole out-of-state client of Continental Strategy.

You’re welcome to comment.

–[Higher Ed Heist]

For Arizona State President Michael Crow

Michael Crow
1st degree connection·
President at Arizona State University

—Mar 16 (2026)—

Good morning President Crow,

Thank you for connecting. I hope you had an excellent weekend!

I am a freelance reporter and policy student at the City University of New York. I write about the outside interests of public university leadership, primarily in Florida, then in North Carolina, but I am also interested in Arizona, and specifically Arizona State.

I have a story I have been thinking about for a bit—I noticed that Arizona State is the only school outside of Florida that has a lobbying relationship with the Florida lobbying firm Continental Strategy, founded by current New College of Florida President Richard Corcoran.

I have been curious—how did this relationship come to be?

Thanks!

(Read)

—Mar 20 (2026)—

Good morning President Crow,

Happy Friday! I hope you had an excellent week.

Something else I wanted to ask you about...with Continental Strategy being a Florida-based lobbying firm. They gained a new client in UF Health shortly after Ben Sasse became president of UF (and several more State University System clients, since).

I noticed that, during his tenure at UF, Sasse took a trip or two out to ASU, including to speak on a panel with you—it was one of his more extravagant trips, spending-wise—and following, in addition to ASU’s new Continental Strategy contract, Sasse gained employment of some sort at In-Q-Tel.

I know you are the top guy at In-Q-Tel, and so I’m just wondering if these exchanges are at all linked, or just coincidence?

(Read)

—Apr 9 (2026)—

Good morning President Crow,

Happy Friday!

I’m going to put these questions up on my Substack with a note that you declined to respond.

Thanks!

(Read)

$$$

OSPREY, Fla. — The Novo Collegian Alliance, Inc., an independent, unaffiliated 501(c)(3) organization founded by and for the New College community, applauds John Oliver and the team at Last Week Tonight for bringing national attention to the ongoing political takeover of New College of Florida.

The segment, which aired Sunday, June 7, 2026 used Oliver’s trademark blend of sharp research, sardonic humor, and moral clarity to examine a story that has deeply affected students, faculty, staff, alumni, and families connected to New College.

“John Oliver has a rare gift for making people laugh without letting them look away,” said William Rosenberg, President of the Novo Collegian Alliance. “We appreciate the care his team brought to this story. But as funny as the segment may have been, what is happening at New College is no laughing matter for the current students, faculty, and staff living through it every day.”

In the segment, Oliver underscored the absurdity and seriousness of the New College takeover, including moments such as:

“But then money has seemingly been no object when it comes to this project. In fact, a state audit last year found that the public cost to produce a degree at New College had swelled in 2024 to nearly $500,000, dwarfing what has been spent per student at any other public university… But at the same time, administrative costs have ballooned with one major expenditure being Corkran’s own salary. Because when you include perks and bonuses, he has the highest per student salary of any president in Florida’s university system worth more than a million dollars a year.”

And:

“And depressingly, it is the exact sort of smash and grab we’re seeing in so many places right now, from public health to newspapers to broadcast news. Ideologues capturing something that they hate, claiming that they want to fix it, and then destroying it instead. But seldom has that move been more blatant than watching people talk about great debates and classical education, only to then drive away faculty, refer to books as trash, and assemble a veritable avengers of D-list conservatives, celebrities, creeps, and weirdos, all so that they can lecture the world’s single largest baseball team.”

Since 2023, New College has been dramatically altered after Governor Ron DeSantis’ appointment of a new majority to the college’s Board of Trustees. The changes that followed included attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives; the elimination of gender studies; the departure of faculty; and the dismantling of long-standing campus traditions. The reshaping of the institution raised serious concerns about academic freedom, shared governance, and the future of public liberal arts education in Florida.

The Novo Collegian Alliance was formed in 2023 in response to these events and has since become a central independent voice for alumni, students, faculty, staff, and allies working to preserve New College’s legacy and support its community.

“New College was never just a place,” said Rosenberg. “It was, and remains, a radical educational idea: that students can be trusted to pursue rigorous, self-directed inquiry in a community built on intellectual freedom. That idea is worth defending.”

NCA encourages journalists, researchers, alumni, and members of the public seeking background on the takeover to visit WhatHappenedToNewCollege.org, a public resource site maintained by the NCA based on work done by members of the community. The site includes an interactive timeline of key events, a searchable database of news coverage, and contextual information documenting the transformation of the college since January 2023.

The Novo Collegian Alliance continues to support current students, preserve New College history, maintain public records of the takeover, host independent community events, and advocate for the values that defined New College for generations: academic freedom, student agency, intellectual rigor, and creative self-direction.

Interview Availability

The Novo Collegian Alliance has the following representatives available for media interviews:

William Rosenberg
President, Novo Collegian Alliance
Available to speak on NCA’s mission, alumni response, organizational history, and the ongoing work of preserving New College’s history and traditions.

Ben Brown, Esq.
NCA Board Member; Host of HAM Radio, the NCA podcast
Available to speak on public accountability, the national implications of the New College takeover for higher education in the USA, and the broader stakes for the New College community..

Brian Cody
Secretary, Novo Collegian Alliance
Available to speak on policy, public records, and institutional accountability.

Media inquiries may be directed to contact@novocollegian.org.

About the Novo Collegian Alliance

The Novo Collegian Alliance is an independent, unaffiliated Florida 501(c)(3) organization founded by and for the New College community. Guided by its vision of the Four Winds—to Serve, Support, Preserve, and Empower—NCA works to meet the evolving needs of students, alumni, staff, and faculty while ensuring that the values and history that define New College endure for generations.

For more information, visit www.novocollegian.org

Media Contact:
KimBoo York
Administrative Coordinator, Novo Collegian Alliance
media@novocollegian.org
(941) 237-0337
www.novocollegian.org

$$$

Hired by Richard Corcoran as New College Foundation executive director in his first month as New College president in 2023, Sydney Gruters ran the foundation until resigning to run for U.S. Congress on April 1.

While Florida State University System school trustees offer million-dollar-plus annual compensation packages to new school chief executives, Florida law caps state spending on their salaries at $200,000. This unique pay structure leads state school presidents to fundraise for school needs and their own salaries at the same time to make up the difference.

They have leverage.

Individuals, businesses, and organizations looking to gain favor with Corcoran during Gruters’ three years as foundation executive director could have contacted her directly about making a contribution toward Corcoran’s $1.3 million New College presidential compensation package.

With Corcoran controlling New College’s $120 million operating budget, $57 million in endowed assets, and other pools of school and state funds, including the New College Development Corporation and the New College Property Corporation, potential vendors, developers, and enterprises seeking investment have reason to become donors.

While Corcoran controls school spending, Gruters controlled access and mechanisms of payment.

No Degrees of Separation, No Sunshine

Sydney Gruters is married to Florida State Senator Joe Gruters, current chair and previous treasurer of the Republican National Committee.

Joe Gruters led the Republican Party of Sarasota County, the home county of New College, for 10 years, from 2008 to 2018; was chair of the Florida Republican Party, and co-chaired Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign with Susie Wiles, the current White House chief-of-staff.

Joe Gruters and current Florida State University System Chancellor Ray Rodrigues sat diagonally from each other in the Florida Senate from 2020 to 2022.

Manny Diaz, Jr., now president of the University of West Florida, sat five chairs away.

In 2020, Diaz introduced Senate Bill 774 to create Sunshine Law exemptions for Florida public college and university presidential searches, which would allow searches to be conducted in secret. He claimed open searches, standard practice in higher education, resulted in “weak candidates.”

While Diaz’s Senate Bill 774 died in March 2020, Rodrigues copied concepts and language from Diaz’s bill in scripting Senate Bill 520, which he co-sponsored in October 2021.

Senate leadership referred Senate Bill 520 to three committees for review:

• The 10-member Committee on Education, chaired by Joe Gruters, with Diaz as a member.

• The 8-member Committee on Governmental Oversight and Accountability, chaired by Rodrigues, with Joe Gruters as vice chair (Rodrigues shuffled from chair to member before co-sponsoring Senate Bill 520).

• The 18-member Committee on Rules, for final review before heading to the Senate floor for debate and adoption, with Joe Gruters and Diaz as committee members.

Senate Bill 520 was rewritten in committee, becoming Committee Substitute/Senate Bill 520; passed through the Senate and House, then was signed by into law on March 16, 2022 as Fla. Stat. § 1004.098 Applicants for president of a state university or Florida College System institution; public records exemption; public meetings exemption, scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2022.

Diaz, appointed as Corcoran’s replacement as state education commissioner, left the Florida Senate in late May 2022.

Then Rodrigues announced he would not seek reelection to the Florida Senate on June 16, 2022.

“There are some other opportunities that I’m interested in pursuing,” Rodrigues said.

Then Marshall Criser III, then-current chancellor of the State University System, announced his resignation on June 30, 2022—the day before Rodrigues’ Fla. Stat. § 1004.098 would take effect.

Rodrigues submitted his application for Criser’s job within two weeks of Criser’s announcement.

Buying a Better Florida

Richard Corcoran’s younger brother Michael, CEO and founder of the lobbying firm Corcoran Partners, gave Senator Rodrigues $30,000—pooled from his own personal funds, from Corcoran Partners, and from his Building a Better Florida PAC—through two Rodrigues-chaired PACs: Free Markets for Florida PAC and Friends of Ray Rodrigues PAC—including a $10,000 contribution received the month before Fla. Stat. § 1004.098 took effect.

Michael Corcoran gave a matching $30,000 from personal and Corcoran Partners funds to Senator Diaz through the Diaz-chaired Better Florida Education PAC.

Michael Corcoran contributed $5,000 in personal funds to Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez through the Nuñez-chaired Jobs and Prosperity for Florida PAC, in the same month Fla. Stat. § 1004.098 took effect.

How In the Foundation

“On the Appropriations Full Committee,” Rodrigues, then Corcoran’s majority leader, told the House Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee in March 2017, “we heard a presentation from each of the State University System foundations, where we learned that of the dollars that are being spent in foundations, 17 cents of the dollar is going to student aide.

The rest is going to salaries, expenses, travel…”

Light bulb.

General Foundation Background

College foundations like the New College Foundation are school-affiliated charities which raise, manage, and distribute donor funds to further school missions, helping pay for expenses such as student scholarships, professorships, and programs.

Led by a dedicated director, they commonly control investment of their school’s endowments, such as New College’s $57 million in endowed funds and assets.

While school-affiliated, foundations operate as independent nonprofit corporations—private businesses with finances and operations that, unlike those of the institutions they help fund, are largely exempt from public disclosure.

Under Corcoran, New College rewrote school foundation bylaws, concentrating Corcoran’s authority to hire and fire directors at-will, structure management, and direct oversight, controlling the method and design for payment of his salary.

Why?

Purchases and expenses, vendors, donor names and contributions, and investments are all transacted in a legally-formed black box which functions as both private business and bank, with ready access to millions in gifted capital and mechanisms to trade cash and favors anonymously.

Sydney Gruters was one of Corcoran’s first hires as interim president of New College. He was confident she could raise or find him $1 million in foundation funds each year to pay his salary.

House, Family Ties and Tangles

Carlos Trujillo launched Continental Strategy, a lobbying firm, Continental PLLC, a law firm with campaign finance and white collar crime defense disciplines, and Continental Capital Group, ostensibly an investment concern, though with no online presence and lapsed state filings, in early 2022.

Trujillo hired Anne Corcoran, Richard Corcoran’s wife, as a founding partner in Continental PLLC in March 2022, before hiring Corcoran in May 2022 as a founding partner in Continental Strategy and Continental PLLC, and as a manager of Continental Capital Group.

Katie Wiles, partner and director of Continental Strategy and Continental PLLC with the firms’ Jacksonville and Washington, D.C. offices, is the daughter of Susie Wiles, the current White House chief-of-staff

Susie Wiles joined Ballard Partners as managing partner in their Jacksonville office in 2011, working for the firm until 2019, and co-chairing Donald Trump’s presidential campaign with Joe Gruters in 2016.

Brian Ballard, founder of Ballard Partners, was an early sponsor of Michael Corcoran, whose partner in Corcoran Partners, Matthew Blair, is the brother of James Blair, White House deputy chief of staff and a direct report to Susie Wiles.

Richard Corcoran originally hired James Blair—who from 2015 to 2017 charged $1.5 million in Florida Republican Party expenses to his personal credit card to hide party spending—to be his right hand man in the Florida House.

Corcoran called Blair’s credit card trick “more efficient,” saying it “made expenditures harder for the public to trace.”

Blair also chaired Corcoran’s Watchdog PAC.

Corcoran-Assigned Seats for Watchdog PAC Fundraisers

Millions in state and donor spending on presidential salaries and state- and donor-funded lobbying contracts originate from the rostrum and front row and aisle seats Corcoran rewarded top allies and fundraisers with as Florida’s House Speaker from 2016 to 2018.

Corcoran’s House leadership team included Rodrigues as House Majority Leader; Diaz as chair of the PreK-12 Appropriations Committee controlling Florida’s $20 billion education budget; Trujillo as chair of the House Appropriations Committee controlling Florida’s $80 billion budget; Jeanette Nuñez as speaker pro tempore; and José Oliva, referred to as Corcoran’s “top lieutenant.”

Rodrigues, Diaz, Trujillo, and Nuñez worked double-duty as fundraisers for Corcoran’s Watchdog PAC, which Corcoran created to fund his 2017 campaign for Florida governor.

Rodrigues not only worked to fundraise for Corcoran—he gave $25,000 to Watchdog PAC from his own Free Markets for Florida PAC.

“I’ll be forever in the debt of Speaker Corcoran,” Rodrigues told the House in his farewell speech, two years after Corcoran had left.

Trujillo, in addition to working to fundraise for Corcoran’s Watchdog PAC, gave $150,000 from his own Conservative and Principled Leadership for Florida PAC.

Oliva’s Conservative Principles for Florida PAC contributed $400,000.

Corcoran and Trujillo took family vacations together. Rodrigues and Diaz smoked Oliva Cigars together as Rodrigues played DJ on his portable Bluetooth speaker.

Plan Takes Hold

Having resigned from his governor-appointed position as state education commissioner to join Trujillo’s varied Continental enterprises, with no registered clients during his first four months with Continental Strategy, Corcoran lobbied the Governor’s Office exclusively.

Diaz, as Corcoran’s appointed successor, inherited Corcoran’s ex officio seat on the Board of Governors.

Corcoran received a direct governor’s appointment.

They had gained positions and votes to influence who could become a public university president in Florida. With Rodrigues’ legislation serving as preemptive cover for illegitimate searches, they chose themselves.

Coups and Contracts

In July 2022, Corcoran, Diaz, and the Board of Governors elected Ray Rodrigues chancellor of the State University System.

Diaz dropped in on the final chancellor selection committee meeting, a committee on which he was not a member, to whip for Rodrigues as the last word before the final vote.

Then Diaz and Corcoran made Rodrigues chancellor.

In advancing from his role as administrator at Florida Gulf Coast University to State University System chancellor, Rodrigues saw his $82,000 annual compensation increase nearly 1,000%, to over $800,000—including a $75,000 annual house allowance and a $12,000 car allowance, other perks, and state benefits.

Rodrigues, again indebted to Corcoran, had been placed in position to pay him back.

Made Chancellor

In early January 2023, Oliva received an appointment to the Florida Board of Governors.

Then in late January, Corcoran, a lobbyist, attorney, capital investment manager, and governor’s appointee to the Florida Board of Governors, was abruptly made interim president of New College in a surprise election by school trustees.

While the New College community was blindsided by the action, Corcoran and his Continental partners were ready in anticipation.

Trujillo and Continental Strategy congratulated Corcoran on his being named interim president of New College in a press release issued before New College trustees had met to hold the vote to elect Corcoran.

“The selection of Richard distinguishes our firm as a leader in innovation and strategic solutions for the clients we serve,” wrote Trujillo. “We look forward to finding new synergies that can better serve our current clients and ensure their goals are made a reality.”

With Corcoran’s lobbying firm having had advance notice of the outcome, the vote or decision to make Corcoran interim New College president had been held outside of a public meeting, by an unrecognized procedure, in violation of Florida’s Sunshine Law.

The formal vote, held at the public trustees meeting, was an act.

Corcoran submitted his resignation letter from the Board of Governors on the same day, resigning so as not to vote on his own confirmation. A vote from Oliva served for Corcoran as Corcoran’s vote had served for Rodrigues.

Three months after Corcoran and Diaz made Rodrigues chancellor, Rodrigues, Diaz, and Oliva made Corcoran interim New College president.

In October 2023, their Board of Governors confirmed Corcoran as permanent president of New College, approving a $1.3 million annual compensation package, an increase of nearly 400% over that of his predecessor.

Board of Watchdogs

In early February 2025, Florida International University trustees fell in line, repeating the steps and process that made Corcoran president of New College, in a search hidden behind Rodrigues’ and Diaz’s legislation, to elect Nuñez as their institution’s chief executive.

Rodrigues’, Diaz’s, and Oliva’s Board of Governors voted to confirm Nuñez as interim president on February 7, then to make her permanent president of Florida International University four months later in June 2025.

Their Board of Governors approved a contract for Nuñez worth $1.6 million in annual compensation, nearly double that of her predecessor.

Then it was Diaz’s turn.

Trustees at the University of West Florida, again repeating the steps and process that made Corcoran president of New College and Nuñez president of Florida International University, hidden behind legislation Diaz had designed himself, elected Diaz as University of West Florida president.

Rodrigues’ and Oliva’s Board of Governors confirmed Diaz as interim president in June 2025, then as permanent president in January 2026.

Spoils and Positions for Patronage

Of Rodrigues’ $800,000 compensation as chancellor, $370,000 must be paid privately, through State University System funds held in the State University System foundation.

Rodrigues has executive authority over nearly $18 billion in annual State University System expenditures.

The Florida Board of Governors controls the State University System’s foundation, with Diaz and Oliva having approved Rodrigues’ bonuses and facilitated payment of Rodrigues’ salary; Diaz until assuming the interim presidency of the University of West Florida in July 2025, and Oliva through his term on the Board of Governors, ended January 2026.

—$—

Of Corcoran’s $1.3 million compensation as New College president, $1.1 million must be paid privately through the New College Foundation.

Corcoran controls New College’s $120 million annual operating budget. Corcoran also controls the New College Foundation, which holds and invests $57 million in assets, including the endowment.

—$—

Of Nuñez’s $1.6 million in compensation as Florida International University president, $1.4 million must be paid privately through the Florida International University Foundation.

Nuñez controls Florida International University’s $1.8 billion annual operating budget. The Florida International University Foundation controls and invests Florida International University’s $560 million in assets, including the endowment.

Former Florida International University trustees and current foundation board directors Francis Hondal and Natasha Lowell each contributed $2,500 to Nuñez’s Jobs and Prosperity for Florida PAC shortly before being named to the search committee which selected Nuñez as the sole finalist in consideration to become Florida International University president.

Hondal and Lowell now facilitate payment of Nuñez’s salary and bonuses, including voting to approve a $42,000 bonus for Nuñez for her four months as interim president.

—$—

Of Diaz’s $1 million presidential salary, $800,000 must be paid privately through the University of West Florida Foundation. Diaz controls the University of West Florida’s $375 million annual operating budget. The University of West Florida Foundation controls and invests the University of West Florida’s $200 million in assets, including the endowment.

With New Presidents, Lobbying Contracts as Currency

Starting as permanent president of New College on Oct. 3, 2023, Corcoran entered New College into a lobbying contract with Ballard Partners, within one month, on Nov. 1, 2023.

The contract is through the school foundation, and exempt from disclosure. Federal lobbying disclosures show the contract is worth $120,000 per year.

Corcoran held his ownership in Continental Strategy into his second year as New College president, claiming, through New College’s general counsel, that he received a buyout from the firm in March 2024.

By July 2024, the Rodrigues-led State University System awarded Trujillo’s Continental Strategy a three-year, $1 million contract; and a second, combined contract with Ballard Partners for $160,000 per year.

Trujillo’s and Rodrigues’ signatures on the million-dollar State University System contract line up with their Corcoran-assigned seats in the Florida House.

A report Trujillo submitted to Rodrigues listing Continental Strategy’s and Ballard Partners’ combined lobbying efforts shows the two firms lobbied, among other politicians, Vern Buchanan, the U.S. Congressman who gave Sydney Gruters her start in politics, hiring her, and then employing her as a staffer for a decade.

With Buchanan retiring, Sydney Gruters is running to replace him.

In September 2024, the Joe-Gruters-led Republican National Committee retained Continental PLLC for “legal and compliance services,” spending $30,000 over a three month period.

Anne Corcoran’s Florida Bar profile shows she remained a partner with Continental PLLC through August 2025.

More Corcoran-Linked Lobbying Contracts

One Feb. 7, 2025, Florida International University trustees voted to award Nuñez the position of school president. On the same day, Florida International University received a contract from Continental Strategy worth $120,000 per year, pre-endorsed by Trujillo, waiting for a school representative to sign.

A Florida International University representative endorsed the contract within three days.

No discussions of unique institutional needs. No scoping of work. No modifications to the proposal. No negotiations. No further legal review.

In the same week, Corcoran entered New College into a lobbying contract with Continental Strategy worth between $100,000 and $180,000.

New College claims the contract is through the school foundation, and exempt from disclosure.

Without the contract, an estimate can be calculated through state and federal lobbying disclosures.

Within two months, Nuñez entered Florida International University into a second contract with Corcoran Partners.

Federal lobbying disclosures show the contract is also worth $120,000 per year.

In Nuñez’s first two months as president, Florida International University entered into $240,000 in new lobbying contracts with firms founded by Richard or Michael Corcoran.

According to Florida International University Media Relations, their contract with Corcoran Partners is through the school’s foundation and exempt from disclosure.

Diaz assumed the position of interim president of the University of West Florida on July 14, 2025.

By Aug. 15, 2025, Diaz had entered the University of West Florida into a lobbying contract with Corcoran Partners.

Initially, the University of West Florida’s Office of the General Counsel and Procurement Department knew nothing about the contract.

They did not have direct access to the contract, which is through the school’s foundation and exempt from disclosure.

Federal lobbying disclosures show the contract is worth $120,000 per year.

Sarasota County Party Accounting

In 2013, the Joe Gruters-led Republican Party of Sarasota County’s volunteer audit committee found a discrepancy in party finances. The entire committee resigned, recommending an external audit and an investigation.

Gruters is a professional accountant. The party accountant, hired by Gruters the previous year, challenged Gruters’ accounting of party funds as off by $80,000.

Gruters defended himself in letters to the party executive committee, calling them “false allegations” and writing, “I have done nothing wrong here and I intend to fight it out as long as it takes to prove it!”

Sarasota County law enforcement elected not to investigate. The party accountant who challenged Gruters’ accounting is now his business partner.

Lobbying Central in the New College Foundation’s Future

The New College Foundation has found Sydney Gruters’ replacement in David Rancourt, who first joined Corcoran’s New College as Dean of Student Affairs in August 2023.

Rancourt, a “mega-lobbyist,” in 2024 completed a Ph.D. at the University of Bucharest in Romania, writing a dissertation called Ethics and Lobbying: How lobbying works and grows in advancing democratic societies.

Now, Rancourt has stepped in to administer New College’s shadow lobby.

$$$

On Oct. 28, 2024, then-Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez launched Friends of Jeanette Nuñez, a political action committee.

She was not running for office. She was already chair of Jobs and Prosperity for Florida, the PAC she launched as a Florida House representative in September 2013.

Less than a month later, in November 2024, Friends of Jeanette Nuñez received four checks for contributions totaling $25,000.

One check for $10,000 came from private equity firm principal Rogelio “Roger” Tovar, chair of the Florida International University Board of Trustees.

One $5,000 check came from RT Holdings, LLC, a management company which Tovar owns.

Two checks, each for $5,000, came from Palmetto 57 Nissan and Palmetto 57 Volkswagen, two Miami car dealerships Tovar owns through RT Holdings.

Timing is Money

Two months and two weeks after giving $25,000 to Nuñez-chaired PACs, on Feb. 7, 2025, Tovar led FIU trustees in a vote to elect Nuñez as interim FIU president.

Three days later, on Feb. 10, Nuñez transferred all funds from Friends of Jeanette Nuñez into her Jobs and Prosperity for Florida PAC, obscuring Tovar and his companies as the original source of the funds.

On Feb. 12, Nuñez dissolved Friends of Jeanette Nuñez.

In operation for three months and 12 days, Friends of Jeanette Nuñez collected just seven total contributions before being shut down.

Tovar has been an active political donor since 2016. These were his first contributions to Nuñez.

Sham Process

A Feb. 7, 2025, Florida Politics headline reads, “FIU picks Jeanette Nuñez as Interim President after Gov. DeSantis urges vote,” quoting from a statement released by Tovar:

“The Governor’s office contacted me and suggested that we consider Lt. Gov. Nuñez as the next leader of FIU,” Tovar wrote.

By late May 2025, Tovar announced that the presidential search committee had selected three finalists for the permanent FIU president position, and that two candidates refused to be named unless they were the sole finalist.

Whether any candidates other than Nuñez were considered by the search committee is only known to the search committee, search partners, and applicants. Public college and university presidential searches in Florida are conducted in secret, veiled by Florida Statute § 1004.098, passed in early 2022, exempting search processes from public meetings and public records requirements in Florida’s Sunshine Law.

At a trustees meeting held on campus on June 2, 2025, given no other choice, FIU trustees voted unanimously to name Nuñez as FIU president on a permanent basis.

Following the vote, trustees approved a work agreement for Nuñez with a salary and compensation package worth $1.6 million annually, $600,000 more than that of her predecessor.

Then, two and a half years into a five-year appointed term as trustee, Tovar resigned.

Extracurriculars and Permissions

Nuñez’s FIU work agreement requires her to request and receive written approval from FIU’s board chair to serve as a board member with any external organizations.

In her first week as interim FIU president, Nuñez requested and recieved Tovar’s approval to serve in a governor-appointed role as chair of the Space Florida Board of Directors. While this is the only request Nuñez has submitted and only approval she has received according to FIU records, Nuñez remains chair of Jobs and Prosperity for Florida, which currently holds $465,000 in its coffers.

In addition to her positions as FIU president and as chair of Jobs and Prosperity for Florida, Nuñez manages two private companies, L-5 Overseas, LLC, created in 2022, and A&J Nuñez Holdings, LLC, created in 2021.

Four years after forming L-5 Overseas and five years after forming A&J Nuñez Holdings, neither LLC has any online presence or activity beyond state-required filings.

Refund Without Recusal

In September 2025, nearly a year after Tovar’s contributions to Friends of Jeanette Nuñez had been received, Nuñez’s PAC returned all $10,000 to Tovar, $5,000 to RT Holdings, and $5,000 each to Palmetto 57 Nissan and Palmetto 57 Volkswagen.

PACs are required to return contributions that are excessive, violating legal contribution limits, or from prohibited donors and sources.

Tovar endorsed and campaigned for Nuñez, as her PACs held $25,000 of his personal and business funds. He did not recuse himself from votes to elect Nuñez interim, and then permanent FIU president.

That the Nuñez-chaired PAC returned Tovar’s contributions means that either the contributions were recognized and returned as a violation months after Tovar’s two votes to elect Nuñez interim, and then permanent, president; or Tovar requested a refund after having received, or not received, some expected benefit.

The Honor Code of Silence

Nuñez did not respond to seven messages sent to her FIU email address between early December 2025 and the time of publication.

The press secretary for the governor’s office redirected questions to the Board of Governors, the governor-appointed body which controls the State University System.

The Board of Governors’ director of public affairs redirected questions to FIU Media Relations.

FIU Media Relations and the FIU Office of the General Counsel did not respond to nine email and phone messages left with several senior staff members and the general mailbox.

The FIU Board of Trustees did not respond to multiple email and phone messages left with the FIU Board of Trustees’ dedicated email address and phone number.

Tovar did not respond to messages sent to RT Holdings’ LinkedIn page. RT Holdings’ company phone number is not publicly listed. Messages left on phone numbers listed as associated with RT Holdings in business intelligence databases were not returned.

Miami-based accountant Jose Riesco, treasurer for both Nuñez-chaired PACs, did not respond to multiple phone and email messages left with his accounting firm’s office.

$$$

A proposal pending in the Florida legislature will discontinue the University of South Florida’s Sarasota-Manatee campus and transfer campus real estate to neighboring New College of Florida.

Parties backing the proposal have a history of working in tight coordination to obtain private gain through their public positions for themselves, their partners, and associations.

This piece examines these relationships, shared interests, and financial ties as background to the merger, to serve as a resource for journalists. It is information-dense, and designed to be skimmed for quick access to relevant documents in context.

Watchdog Gang

Richard Corcoran created a political action committee to fund his 2017 run for Florida governor, Watchdog PAC.

He named Florida House colleagues Carlos Trujillo and Ray Rodrigues to House leadership roles, and then to his seven-member Watchdog fundraising committee.

In addition to serving as fundraisers for Watchdog PAC:

• Trujillo contributed $150,000 from his own Conservative and Principled Leadership PAC to Watchdog PAC

• Rodrigues contributed $25,000 from his own Free Markets for Florida PAC to Watchdog PAC

  

Richard Corcoran

Before his takeover as president of New College of Florida in February 2023, Richard Corcoran earned income simultaneously as a lobbyist and founding partner in Continental Strategy, attorney and founding partner in Continental PLLC, and from managing Continental Capital Group, all founded by Trujillo; while a governor’s appointee to the Florida Board of Governors.

Corcoran omitted Continental Capital Group from his state financial disclosures during his time associated with the company.

As a Continental Strategy lobbyist seated on the Florida Board of Governors from May 2022 to January 2023, Corcoran lobbied the governor’s office exclusively.

Previously, Corcoran had been Florida’s education commissioner, a governor-appointed position through which he gained an ex officio seat on the Florida Board of Governors. Corcoran held these roles from January 2019 to May 2022.

Before this, Corcoran was a Florida House representative from 2010-2018, holding the position of House Speaker from 2016-2018.

Corcoran and Trujillo

Trujillo founded Continental Strategy, Continental PLLC, Continental Strategy Group, and other Continental-affiliated entities, starting in 2021, after leaving his President Trump-appointed position as ambassador to the Organization of American States, a role which he held from April 2018 to January 2021.

In March 2022, Trujillo hired Anne Corcoran, Corcoran’s wife, as an attorney and partner in Continental PLLC. In May 2022, Trujillo hired Corcoran away from his position as state education commissioner to become partner and co-founder in his varied Continental enterprises.

While in the House together from 2010 to 2018, Corcoran and Trujillo were close, even taking family vacations together.

In 2016, Trujillo “delivered the votes from the Miami-Dade delegation” that allowed Richard Corcoran to become House speaker during the 2016-2018 term. As a reward, Corcoran named Trujillo, then a 32-year-old trial attorney, chair of the Florida House Appropriations Committee overseeing Florida’s $80 billion state budget.

In 2023, Trujillo was the first to announce Corcoran had been named New College president—in a Continental Strategy press release, before New College trustees had met to hold the vote.

The New College – Continental Contract
$100,000-$180,000/year
Est. Feb. 2025

Client: New College (Richard Corcoran)
Contractor: Continental Strategy (Carlos Trujillo)

Richard Corcoran retained ownership in Continental Strategy for over a year after becoming New College president.

Two years after taking over as New College president, Corcoran’s New College signed on with Continental Strategy for a lobbying contract worth between $100,000 and $180,000 per year.

New College will not release their contract with Continental Strategy, claiming that the agreement is with the school’s foundation—a private, nonprofit charity established to raise funds in support of New College—and not with the school itself.

While Corcoran controls the foundation, this payment arrangement would exempt the contract from Florida Sunshine Law disclosure requirements.

Notably, the New College Foundation Board of Directors approved a 50% increase to the foundation’s lobbying budget, from $240,000 in 2024 to $360,000 in 2025, months prior to signing this contract.

Federal and state lobbying disclosures offer some insight into New College’s spending on lobbyists; however, in Florida, lobbyists and lobbying firms report client income in increments of $10,000, rather than as exact amounts.

Without access to a contract, estimates of what Corcoran’s New College administration is spending on state-level lobbying can only be calculated as a range.

In Florida, it is illegal for state agencies to lobby the state legislature with state dollars.

Corcoran, shortly after taking over at New College, updated his profile on FloridaLobbyist.gov, Florida’s lobbyist registry, to reflect that he had switched lobbying positions, from representing Continental Strategy clients as a Continental Strategy lobbyist, to lobbying for New College. He did not update his contact information in the registry, leaving Continental Strategy’s office location as his mailing address and Trujillo’s direct line as his own phone number.

These disclosures reflect that Continental Strategy’s agreement is with New College, rather than the New College Foundation.

The Florida lobbyist registry currently shows six lobbyists registered to lobby on behalf of the New College Foundation; and five, separate lobbyists registered to lobby for New College itself—Corcoran, two New College employees, and two Continental Strategy principals—one a former colleague to Corcoran.

Corcoran and Rodrigues

“I’ll be forever in the debt of Speaker Corcoran for appointing me to be his [Florida House] majority leader…” Ray Rodrigues told his Florida House colleagues in a farewell speech from the House floor in March 2020.

Corcoran, then state education commissioner, had left the House two years earlier.

Michael Corcoran and Rodrigues

Michael Corcoran, Richard Corcoran’s younger brother, is the CEO and co-founder, along with his wife Jessica, of Corcoran Partners, the lobbying firm they established together in 2001.

Between February 2019 and June 2022, through his own personal funds, through Corcoran Partners, and through his Building a Better Florida PAC, Michael Corcoran gave $35,000 to Rodrigues—$5,000 to Rodrigues’ Free Markets of Florida PAC and $30,000 to Rodrigues’ Friends of Ray Rodrigues PAC.

Corcorans and Rodrigues (Timeline to Takeover)

Ray Rodrigues sponsored Senate Bill 520, the bill that would take presidential searches dark in Florida, in October of 2021. The bill would pass in March 2022.

Richard Corcoran was appointed to the Florida Board of Governors in May 2022.

In June 2022, as he announced he would not seek reelection to the Florida Senate, Rodrigues received a $10,000 PAC donation from Michael Corcoran. Rumors circulated that Rodrigues had intentions to become chancellor of the State University System after the incumbent chancellor announced he would be stepping down in July 2022.

By August, the Board of Governors’ chancellor search committee had endorsed Rodrigues as its pick for the chancellor position. By September, the Board of Governors, with Corcoran a force as a member, voted to name Rodrigues chancellor.

Again Corcoran had placed Rodrigues in a position of power—and facilitated a raise of between 750% and 900% for Rodrigues, from his $82,000 annual salary as a Florida Gulf Coast University administrator to becoming the highest-paid state employee in Florida.

Again Rodrigues was indebted to Corcoran.

In February 2023, less than five months later, the Florida Board of Governors, led by Rodrigues, voted to confirm Richard Corcoran as the new president of New College of Florida.

FLBoG-SUS – Continental Strategy Contract
$975,000 over 3 years
Est. July 2024

Client: FLBoG-SUS (Ray Rodrigues)
Contractor: Continental Strategy (Carlos Trujillo)
Fiscal Agent: University of North Florida (Moez Limayem)

In July 2024, four months after Corcoran claims, per New College’s general counsel, to have cashed out on his shares in Continental Strategy, Ray Rodrigues signed the Florida State University System on for a three-year, $975,000 contract with Trujillo’s, and Corcoran’s former, lobbying firm.

Moez Limayem

The third signature on the $975,000 FLBoG-SUS – Continental Strategy contract belongs to Moez Limayem, then president of the University of North Florida.

Limayem committed the University of North Florida to serving as the fiscal agent for the Board of Governors’ Continental Strategy agreement.

Limayem has since taken on a new role as president of the University of South Florida, accepting a new contract that increases his salary from $525,000 to $1.25 million, with potential to receive up to $625,000 in annual bonuses.

In this new position, Limayem gains executive oversight and influence over the proposed transfer of the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee satellite campus to New College.

FLBoG-SUS – Continental Strategy/Ballard Partners Contract
$160,000/year
Est. July 2024

Client: FLBoG-SUS (Ray Rodrigues)
Contractor Continental Strategy (Carlos Trujillo)
Contractor: Ballard Partners (Brian Ballard)

As Rodrigues signed the State University System on for a $975,000 lobbying contract with Continental Strategy, Rodrigues at the same time signed the State University System on for a second contract with Continental Strategy, for $40,000/quarter, to subcontract with a second lobbying firm in Ballard Partners.

According to a Continental Strategy report submitted to the Board of Governors and the University of North Florida, Continental Strategy and Ballard Partners work as partners on State University System business.

While the Board of Governors has not disclosed this contract, a precise estimate can be made using federal lobbying disclosures.

Brian Ballard

“[Michael and Jessica Corcoran] launched the firm, then called Corcoran and Associates, on a hope and a prayer – and a little help from some friends [including] Brian Ballard, President of Ballard Partners…” Florida Politics’ Peter Schorsch, Influence Magazine, Winter 2020.

Susie Wiles

Susie Wiles is the current White House chief of staff. Wiles initially joined Ballard Partners in 2011, working as the firm’s managing partner in their Jacksonville office until 2019.

Kate Wiles

Katie Wiles is Susie Wiles’ daughter. She is a Continental Strategy partner and director of Continental Strategy’s Jacksonville and Washington, D.C. offices.

The USF – Corcoran Partners Contract
$340,000/year for the past decade
Est. c. 2002

Client: USF (current: Moez Limayem)
Contractor Corcoran Partners (Michael Corcoran)

Corcoran Partners has a long-running, lucrative arrangement with the University of South Florida, dating back to the firm’s founding.

The University of South Florida pays Corcoran Partners through its private foundation; as, in most years, Corcoran Partners qualifies as one of the University of South Florida Foundation’s top five highest-paid contractors, they are listed on the University of South Florida’s nonprofit tax forms.

Since 2014, the University of South Florida Foundation has paid Corcoran Partners $340,000 annually.

The USF Student Government – Corcoran Partners Contract
$20,000/year (current)
Est. early-mid 2000s

Client: USF Student Government/USF Board of Trustees
Contractor Corcoran Partners (Michael Corcoran)

USF Student Government also has a long-standing lobbying relationship with Corcoran Partners, dating back to the firm’s early years.

While University of South Florida Student Government is the contracted beneficiary of the agreement, it is currently paid by the University of South Florida Trustees and endorsed by university procurement department staff.

The New College – Ballard Partners Contract
$120,000/year
Est. November 2023

Client: New College (Richard Corcoran)
Contractor: Ballard Partners (Brian Ballard)

Corcoran’s New College signed on for a $10,000 per month contract with Ballard Partners within one month of Rodrigues’ Board of Governors confirming Corcoran as permanent New College president in October 2023.

As New College administration established the contract with Ballard Partners through New College’s foundation, rather than with New College directly, the contract is exempt from disclosure.

The value of the contract can be determined through reviewing federal lobbying disclosures.

Brian Ballard on Richard and Michael Corcoran

“There were news reports that tried to link Michael’s legislative successes to Richard and clients who initially thought [that] hiring Michael’s firm was a golden ticket…Ballard said the criticism never stuck, especially because both [Corcorans] “did an excellent job navigating that.” Florida Politics’ Peter Schorsch, Influence Magazine, Winter 2020.

$$$

Good morning Lee,

I hope you had an excellent weekend!

I just wanted to give you a heads up, since the final day to file your 2026 SEI and SharpVue Capital’s annual reports is this Wednesday.

On past submissions there have been significant omissions and “errors” which you should correct, as omitting or misnaming business interests on these state forms can result in misdemeanor and/or felony charges.

I’m cc’ing UNC Media Relations and UNC’s general counsel to ensure you have this information with enough time to review your records and submit an accurate and compliant 2026 filing with the NC State Ethics Commission.

Here is what you will need to revise:

• SharpVue Capital Opportunity GP QP does not exist. You are referring to SharpVue Capital Opportunity QP Fund GP LLC. You also need to list the fund itself, SharpVue Capital Opportunity QP Fund LP ($43,683,012 AUM).

• SharpVue Capital Opportunity GP AI LLC does not exist. You are referring to SharpVue Capital Opportunity AI Fund GP LLC. You also need to list the fund itself, SharpVue Capital Opportunity AI Fund LP ($9,528,489 AUM).

• SharpVue Real Estate GP 2016 AI LLC does not exist. The fund you are referring to is either SharpVue Real Estate GP 2016 LLC or SharpVue Real Estate GP 2016 QP LLC. You will need to list both. You need to list the funds themselves, Sharpvue Real Estate Fund 2016 LP ($476,880 AUM) and Sharpvue Real Estate Fund 2016 QP LP ($465,741 AUM).

• Diveplane Corporation changed its name to Howso Incorporated in 2023.

I am waiting until you have filed your SEI and SharpVue’s 2026 annual reports to assess what should have been reported. While I am most interested in your reporting or non-reporting of the $243 million SharpVue Capital Credit Fund III and the $176 million SharpVue Capital Credit Fund II, there are several others I will be looking for, including:

• Pelican Legacy Holdings LLC

• SharpVue Real Estate Partners II AI LP

• SharpVue Real Estate Partners II LP

• SVC IF AMRA LLC

• SVC Peachtree Corners LLC

Will follow up later this week or early next.

Happy filing!

–Kevin

From Lee Roberts’ 2025 financial disclosures.

Just an important reminder as you fill out your SEI!

N.C.G.S. § 138A-26. Concealing or failing to disclose material information.

• A filing person who knowingly conceals or knowingly fails to disclose information that is required to be disclosed on a statement of economic interest . . . shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor and subject to disciplinary action under G.S. 138A-45. N.C.G.S. § 138A-27. Penalty for false information.

• A filing person who provides false information on a statement of economic interest . . . knowing that the information is false is guilty of a Class H felony and shall be subject to disciplinary action under G.S. 138A-45.

Also note, the affirmation reads:“...have not transferred, and will not transfer, any asset, interest, or property for the purpose of concealing it from disclosure while retaining an equitable interest.”

Best,

–Kevin

From Lee Roberts’ 2026 financial disclosures

$$$

Clip #1: Byron Donalds, Florida congressman and leading candidate for Florida governor

Donalds, on FOX Business, pushes back against the University of Florida Board Trustees’ selection of University of Michigan President Santa Ono as UF’s new president, citing past DEI advocacy.

Clip #2: Ray Rodrigues, Florida State University System chancellor, former Florida state representative and senator

Rodrigues, on The Florida Channel, promoting DEI provisions in a medical marijuana bill on the House floor.

In the Florida legislature, Rodrigues made laws which required government agencies and private businesses to implement DEI.

DEI Capital

As chancellor, Rodrigues celebrated the “dismantling of the DEI bureaucracy that has grown up on our campuses” as the Florida Senate passed SB 266 banning Florida colleges and universities from spending state and federal funds on DEI.

As a career administrator at Florida Gulf Coast University, Rodrigues built that bureaucracy.

Rodrigues’ supervisors consistently cited “Diversity & Inclusion” as one of Rodrigues’ core strengths.

Rodrigues valued DEI when it advanced his career in higher education. He rallies against DEI now that it advances him further, financially.

He is no different from Santa Ono.

If the State of Florida is earnest in its anti-DEI position, Rodrigues cannot be permitted to continue as chancellor of the State University System.

If Rodrigues is permitted to continue as State University System chancellor, he has been positioned for something else entirely.

$$$

Research from this analysis informed UNC chancellor’s private equity firm has grown in the last year. See how much, published in The Raleigh News & Observer on April 21, 2026.

Lee Roberts’ SharpVue Capital brought in $243 million in new investor money between Halloween and Winter Break in his first semester as UNC-Chapel Hill chancellor.

That’s enough to fund full-tuition scholarships for every in-state UNC student in the incoming fall 2026 and fall 2027 freshman classes, for all four years, and still have enough left to pay Bill Belichick’s $10 million annual salary—for three years.

Since his appointment to the UNC Board of Governors in 2021, Roberts’ private equity firm has gained $418 million in new investor money in two new funds, alone—enough to pay the first year’s salaries of every 2026 UNC graduating senior, then endow 35 distinguished professorships.

Timeline III

Shortly after UNC System President Peter Hans named Lee Roberts interim UNC chancellor in December 2023, the Triangle Business Journal published an article, With Lee Roberts leading UNC, here’s the plan for his Raleigh investment firm, quoting Roberts’ SharpVue business partner Doug Vaughn:

“Vaughn said that SharpVue…has known about the possibility that Roberts could go to UNC for some time (he wouldn’t say how long he had been aware of the ‘rumors’) and has been ‘making some plans’ just in case.”

The same article announces that, for SharpVue:

“The big news for 2024 might be the expected launch of SharpVue’s third credit fund.”

While Roberts filed paperwork to create SharpVue Capital Credit Fund III on October 27, 2023, SharpVue did not launch the fund until a year later, on Oct. 18, 2024—7 days after Roberts became chancellor.

SharpVue closed the fund Jan. 1, 2025, having raised $243 million from 51 investors.

Timeline II

The General Assembly appointed Roberts to the UNC Board of Governors on March 17, 2021. SharpVue launched SharpVue Capital Fund II on April 9, 2021, raising $41.5 million from 32 initial investors.

SharpVue closed the fund on Jan. 1, 2023, having raised $176 million from 51 investors, and reports the fund’s current value as $194 million.

In Sum

Roberts’ SharpVue Capital reports $465 million in total assets, over 90% of which have been gained since Roberts became a UNC executive.

$$$

Following his appointment as Florida’s education commissioner, then-Florida Senator Manny Diaz, Jr. said goodbye to his colleagues from the Senate floor on May 24, 2022—including his fellow Watchdog, former House colleague, and housemate Ray Rodrigues.

Weeks later, with an ex officio seat on the Florida Board of Governors, Diaz would whip for Rodrigues’ candidacy during the State University System’s search for a new chancellor, then vote to confirm Rodrigues.

Rodrigues, in turn, would guide the vote for Diaz to become president of the University of West Florida.

Rodrigues is now the highest-paid Florida state employee as State University System chancellor. Diaz has a $1 million salary plus state benefits at the University of West Florida.

This is a transcript, taken from the Journal of the Senate, of the two buddies exchanging shared memories and praise on Diaz’s last day…

Quoting Ray Rodrigues…

“…I came in with Manny…in 2012. Right off the bat, we bonded. I think it was the love that we have for the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou. That started it, but we became friends.

What I really respected about you is you take your work seriously. You respect the institution. You respected the. House while you were there. You have respected the Senate while you were here. You take your work and the institutions seriously, but you don’t take yourself seriously. That is a fine line that many of us have a hard time walking, but you don’t. I am going to give an example of that.

Those of you that have been in the House will understand what I am going to say, those of you that have not been in the House, will not. When you are a freshman in the House, you have no juice and zero influence. So being a freshman in the Senate is a much better deal than being a freshman in the House. So, you look for ways to do what you need to do and entertain yourself along the path as you go.

Manny and I kind of stumbled on one, one day. We were both on conference committee, and when you are a freshman House member, you think that is a big deal. You are on the Conference Committee. We show up early, we get the two seats behind the two presiding officers, the Senate Co-Chair and the House Co-Chair, and it ends. We learn that at every conference committee there is a press gaggle. So everybody clears out and we are just standing there talking and Manny gets a text from his aide, DMart. “Hey, you guys are on TV.” We thought, “Aha: Here is how you get TV time if you are a freshman in the House of Representatives.”

So, we started photobombing every conference committee during that freshman session. It was so subtle, no one picked up on it. But friends noticed what we were doing so they dared us to raise our game by using props. And Manny was like, “We are going to do it.” The first time we did that we used a ruler. So, we are holding up the budget spreadsheet while the press gaggle is going on. One person is steadying the ruler and we are looking at the numbers on the budget. D-Mart is getting photos, still shots of it off of the Florida Channel, and sending them to Manny. We thought, okay that is cool, that is as far as it will go. Then someone said, “Well you really should bring a magnifying glass”—going back to the 2000 recount where they were looking at the ‘hanging chads.’ Manny was like, “We are in.” So, we bring a magnifying glass and we got some really good shots off of that one.

By the way, no one ever said a word to us. No one knew what we were doing. Then the peak of it, as far as the props, was somebody gave us a monocle. You see them laughing over there. You won’t use a monocle while you are photobombing the budget conference. So, we did. You know, once you have done that, when you pulled the Mr. Planner, you have gone as far as you can go. So we stopped with the props, and we retired. We thought we were done with the photobombing. Then came special session for reapportionment and there was one conference committee for reapportionment. I think it was 2014 session, I think it was our second session of our freshman year. Neither one of us, by the way, as freshmen were on the Reapportionment Committee, obviously. We saw there was a conference committee so we decided to join.

So, we are at the conference committee, and it ends. Now this is the biggest press gaggle of all of them, and Manny and I are standing up going over the map that they distributed. We thought okay, that is cool. The next morning, the Miami Herald comes out. The photo they used to illustrate the Reapportionment Committee was Manny and I standing up going over the map that they had passed out during the meeting. We framed that photo and it hangs in the house that we have here in Tallahassee, the roommates and I, as a reminder.

Then we quit photobombing because once you have been on the front page, you can’t really go any higher at that point. These are funny stories and they were fun times. You look at your legislation, you have passed some of the most serious legislation in the state over the last decade, but you never took yourself too seriously. You found ways to have fun, and you have been a good friend along the way.

This is closing a chapter for you. The next chapter, I believe, will be even more successful than this current chapter has been.

Good luck, my friend.”

Quoting Manny Diaz, Jr.

“Senator Ray Rodrigues, what can I say? You’ve got some good stories. What you didn’t tell them—I think you didn’t tell them because you were the Chair of Redistricting now, but the statute of limitations on that part is gone—is that when they took that photo, we were on the second row behind the double dais in the Knott Building. We were behind the second one and the chairs were up, and it was José Oliva and Bill Galvano, and the picture got taken. What we were actually doing with the magnifying glass is that Ray pointed at the map and said, “I live right here.” And the Herald took that picture—went right past the two chairs of the committee and took a picture of us. The next day José Oliva’s like, “You guys not only are not on the committee, you weren’t even dressed! You guys got dressed and headed to the Capitol just for that, and you end up on the cover of the Herald.” That’s a true story.

Ray has been an incredible friend, and as you all know, he is methodical. He is straightforward. You can always count on him. You understand this because we get together at his house and have a cigar, and he brings out his Bluetooth and puts on his music. I always say it’s the sweet sounds of Radio Ray Rod because just like his personality, it’s just smooth. That’s the same way he does his bills. I’ve heard it from some of the members in the Democratic Party—they’re trying to get him disheveled, trying get him off target, and they’re like, “I can’t get this guy to move. I mean, that’s a good answer. I don’t know what to tell him anymore.”

Ray Rod, I appreciate your friendship. You’re a brother. The one thing I will say is the other little joke that we had running is we ran out of Class of 2012 members. We were in the House, smoking cigars, and we had members of the House go on and term out. It became that everybody that was living there started becoming Senators. So, Ray Rod and I, at that point, were sitting, and we’d have the conversation about what was going on in the day. If you looked at the picture of us in 2012 and then look at us now, we didn’t look like this. There wasn’t this cool beard, Senator Powell. There’s a lot of gray. So what I tell them is we’re the two old guys from The Muppet Show that are sitting up in the balcony just making fun of everything that goes on in the legislature.

Thank you, Senator Rodrigues. The lucky thing is I’ll still be up here when you’re here for committee weeks and session, and we’ll be able to share time.”

$$$

Carlos Trujillo is a generous fundraiser.

As one of seven Florida House allies handpicked by Richard Corcoran to staff his Watchdog PAC’s fundraising committee, Trujillo gave more than his time—he gave $150,000 from his own Conservative and Principled Leadership for Florida PAC to back Corcoran for governor in 2017.

Trujillo is in good company.

While Corcoran’s gubernatorial aspirations never materialized, Watchdog fundraising committee alumni are a Who’s Who of Florida higher education:

• Corcoran is president of New College of Florida.

• Ray Rodrigues is now chancellor over the State University System (also a generous fundraiser, Rodrigues contributed $25,000 to Watchdog PAC from his Free Markets for Florida PAC).

• Jeanette Nuñez is now president of Florida International University.

• Manny Diaz, Jr. is now president of the University of West Florida.

Trujillo, now a founder and lobbyist with Continental Strategy, in which Corcoran is a co-founder and *past* partner, is also doing well: his $150,000 initial investment in Corcoran’s political future has paid back tenfold, with his firm now holding six major lobbying contracts with State University System institutions. Four of these contracts, together worth ~$1.4 million, are with institutions controlled by fellow Watchdog PAC fundraisers.

State claims that these Watchdogs are fit, legitimate academic leaders and defenders of the academy against DEI don’t hold up. This is about a small group of political allies, loyal to a leader, coordinating a long-term plan to take over education while trading in favors, contracts, and money.

Proper Search and Probability

What makes having raised funds for Corcoran such a singular and differentiating credential?

• The Florida Board of Governors-State University System Chancellor Search Committee reported 8 applicants and 2 named finalists for the chancellor position awarded to Rodrigues in September 2022. The 12-school State University System serves 340,000 students.

• New College’s Presidential Search Committee reported 63 applicants and 3 named finalists for the president position awarded to Corcoran in October 2023. New College’s student population is 700.

• The University of West Florida Presidential Search Committee reported over 80 applicants and 1 named finalist for the president position awarded to Diaz in January 2026. The University of West Florida’s student population is 15,000.

• Florida International University—authorized by legislation scripted and passed by Diaz and Rodrigues in the Florida Senate—withholds reporting of the number of applicants for the president position awarded to Nuñez in June 2025, claiming 3 finalists were selected while naming only Nuñez. Florida International University’s student population is 54,000.

Noting Nuñez’s Florida International University is, by student population, over three times larger than Diaz’s University of West Florida, an estimate of 80+ applications reviewed by the University of West Florida Presidential Search Committee is conservative.

If each search were conducted legitimately by competent professionals and good faith actors who, in addition to prioritizing general skills necessary for any university president, considered institution-specific factors—like size, educational foci, unique programs and disciplinary specializations, donor bases and community member relationships…

…what is the likelihood that the most qualified candidate to lead each unique state institution would also belong to a seven-member brain trust comprised of Richard Corcoran’s PAC fundraising committee?

Watchdog House Allies

Corcoran elevated Watchdog allies to prominent leadership and oversight positions under him as house speaker, appointing:

• Rodrigues as his house majority leader

• Nuñez as his speaker pro tempore

• Trujillo as his chair of the House Appropriates Committee, controlling allocation of Florida’s $80 billion budget

• Diaz as his chair of the PreK–12 Appropriations Subcommittee, controlling allocation of Florida’s $20+ billion PreK-12 budget

Membership in the Exclusive Watchdog Fraternity has Proven ROI

While Rodrigues’ salary as chancellor has increased by 50% since he took the position in Nov. 2022, he remains the lowest-paid of the cohort, earning a $600,000 base salary, up to a 20% performance bonus, $75,000 annual housing stipend, and $12,000 annual car allowance; in addition to receiving state employee healthcare and retirement benefits.

• Corcoran does much better, earning ~$1.3 million in annual salary and benefits as New College president.

• Diaz will earn ~$1 million in annual salary and benefits as University of West Florida president.

• Nuñez, outpacing all, will earn ~$1.6 million in annual salary and benefits as Florida International University president.

Only Trujillo, with $1.6 million in State University System lobbying contracts, can compete with Nuñez as a top State University System earner.

Corcoran and Trujillo’s Partnership

Corcoran and Trujillo, as Watchdogs, were particularly close—even taking family vacations together.

In 2022, Trujillo hired Corcoran away from his DeSantis-appointed position as state education commissioner to become partner in his one-year-old lobbying firm Continental Strategy, and its sister companies, including Continental PLLC, a law firm with a robust white collar crime defense discipline, and co-founder and co-manager of Continental Capital Group, an LLC with no online presence and lapsed state filings.

In stepping down as education commissioner, Corcoran briefly lost an ex officio seat on the Board of Governors—before receiving a direct DeSantis appointment to the board in time to vote to confirm Rodrigues as chancellor.

Corcoran retained ownership in Continental Strategy at least into his second year as New College president when, *he claims* through New College media relations, he sold back his ownership interest in the firm in March 2024.

Corcoran waited until two years had passed from the time he took over New College to hand his former fundraiser, donor, and business partner in Trujillo a lobbying contract with his state college, which federal and state lobbying disclosures show is worth between $100,000 and $180,000 per year.

Rodrigues didn’t wait as long.

Rodrigues committed the Florida State University System to two contracts with his fellow Watchdogs’ firm: one a three-year contract worth $975,000 and another paying $40,000 quarterly.

This three months after Corcoran’s claimed buyout.

Like their seats in the Florida house, Rodrigues’ and Trujillo’s signatures on the $975,000 contract have next to no space between them…

Nuñez’s FIU received a proposed contract for a $10,000 per month retainer from Continental Strategy, pre-endorsed by Trujillo, on the day FIU’s board named Nuñez interim FIU president.

A school representative endorsed the contract without delay.

Rodrigues, the Lowest-Paid SUS Watchdog, is Florida’s Highest-Paid State Employee.

Rodrigues is the lowest-paid State University System executive and member of Corcoran’s Watchdog gang, and yet the highest-paid Florida public official.

Not just within the State University System—of all Florida public agencies.

Why and how is this possible?

While two-thirds of Rodrigues’ $600,000 salary is taxpayer funded, Florida law caps State University System spending on state college and university chief executive salaries.

For Rodrigues, a raise from his initial $440,000 salary to his current $600,000 salary after his first year as chancellor, as well as bonuses of up to 20% of his $600,000 salary, must be paid privately.

Florida State University System institutions can only pay $200,000 toward their presidents’ salaries from state funds. The rest must come from private sources, which obscures just who is paying the salary of Florida college presidents.

Only private individuals and a few staff have any idea who is paying:

• 45% of Ray Rodrigues’ salary, ~$320,000

• 80% of Manny Diaz, Jr.’s salary, ~$800,000

• 85% of Richard Corcoran’s salary, ~$1.1 million

• 87.5% of Jeanette Nuñez’s salary, ~$1.4 million

The Foundation Lobby Line

Foundations are private, independent charities dedicated to individual organizations such as colleges. They raise, manage, and distribute funds in support of their affiliated institutions’ IRS-approved nonprofit missions.

They manage endowments, like:

• New College’s $53 million endowment

• UWF’s $201 million endowment

• FIU’s $560 million endowment

As private corporations, foundations’ financial reporting requirements are minimal: an annual IRS filing on which foundations are not expected to disclose their donors.

At New College, “[t]he Foundation’s financial reporting is so opaque as to seem intentionally evasive,” wrote Ben Brown, a New College alumnus and former New College Foundation Board director, in a pointed resignation letter from his board position.

Under Corcoran, New College rewrote school foundation rules, concentrating in Corcoran the authority to hire and fire directors at-will, structure management, and direct oversight, controlling the method and design for payment of his salary.

Corcoran has advised trustees at board meetings to treat the New College Foundation as a “wholly-owned subsidiary” of the college—wholly untrue.

Corcoran himself briefly sat on the foundation board overseeing acquisition and approval of his salary before recognizing the exposure, updating paperwork, and positioning a straw man.

“The Foundation Board,” according to Brown, “does not know how the Foundation spends its money…”

$$$

Subject: Carol Dutton Farm, LLC inquiry

From: [Higher Ed Heist]
Date: March 16, 2026
To: [Scott C. Beardsley]

Good morning President Beardsley,

I hope you had an excellent weekend!

I hope you don’t mind me contacting you here—I found this email address connected to the Virginia SCC filing for Carol Dutton Farm, LLC.

I am a freelance reporter and policy student [and] I write about the business interests of university presidents. I noticed that you are the registered agent for this LLC, as well as manager of a parent LP/GP. I can’t seem to find record of this business anywhere outside of state filings.

I noted that Carol Dutton Farm is registered to a campus address, and so I submitted a records request to try to understand the relationship between the LLC and school, but UVA has no record of the LLC as having any relationship with UVA, at all.

I know it was created relatively recently—can you help me understand the nature of this company, and the nature of the LLC’s relationship to UVA, if any?

Thanks! Have a great week,

–[Higher Ed Heist]

UVA President Scott C. Beardsley: No response.

Code of Virginia: State and Local Government Conflict of Interests Act

§ 2.2-3117. Disclosure form. Any person who knowingly and intentionally makes a false statement of a material fact on the Statement of Economic Interests is guilty of a Class 5 felony.

From: [Higher Ed Heist]
Sent: Wednesday, March 18, 2026
To: [UVA Office of the President Communications]
Subject: Pres. Beardsley’s Carol Dutton Farm, LLC

Good afternoon [UVA Office of the President Communications],

I am a freelance reporter and policy student [and] I research and write about outside financial interests of public university presidents.

I noticed that, not long before being named UVA president, President Beardsley started a new LLC, Carol Dutton Farm, LLC, registered to an on-campus address. I had assumed it was a UVA project and so [I] submitted a records request to try to determine the relationship between Carol Dutton Farm, LLC and UVA, but UVA has no records of any company by this name registered to any UVA address.

I am trying to understand, as I cannot seem to find any Carol Dutton or any associated farm, what the nature of this company is, and what President Beardsley’s role in the company may be—can you help fill in any information and context for my understanding?

Thank you! Have a great evening,

-[Higher Ed Heist]

On Mar 18, 2026, [UVA Office of the President Communications] wrote:

Dear [Higher Ed Heist],

Thank you for reaching out!

The LLC is for a private concern which is not associated or affiliated with UVA. The on-Grounds address is due to the fact that President Beardsley lives on Grounds, both in his role as president now and in his prior role as dean of the Darden School of Business, thus it is his home address.

Thank you again. Have a good evening!

[UVA Office of the President Communications]

From: [Higher Ed Heist]
Subject: Re: Pres. Beardsley’s Carol Dutton Farm, LLC
Date: March 19, 2026
To: [UVA Office of the President Communications]

Good morning [UVA Office of the President Communications],

Happy Friday! I hope you had an excellent week.

This creates a second question…while Carol Dutton Farm, LLC is registered to President Beardsley’s campus home address, the state filing reflects that his interest is indirect through his role in a separate partnership he owns/operates.

With a second employer in The Carlyle Group, is President Beardsley also managing a real estate investment firm?

Thanks! Have a great weekend,

–[Higher Ed Heist]

UVA Office of the President Communications: No response.

From: [Higher Ed Heist]
Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2026
To: [UVA Office of the President Communications]
Cc: [Scott C. Beardsley]
Subject: Pres. Beardsley’s Carol Dutton Farm, LLC

Good morning [UVA Office of the President Communications],

I hope you are having an excellent week, so far!

Just to expand upon my question…I was able to find Carol Dutton Farm, LLC on President Beardsley’s Virginia Ethics Council Statement of Economic Interests, but not the limited/general partnership through which President Beardsley owns/manages Carol Dutton Farm, LLC.

I see no limited or general partnerships listed on President Beardsley’s SoEI. It looks like, then, that President Beardsley is operating a real estate management entity investing in property in Charlottesville/Virginia, that he has not disclosed, with partners.

Is this inaccurate? Can you please fill in any context?

Thanks! Have a great afternoon,

–[Higher Ed Heist]

On Mar 24, 2026, [UVA Office of the President Communications] wrote:

Hi [Higher Ed Heist],

Thank you for the follow-up, and I apologize for the delay. The University does not have any further information or comment on President Beardsley’s private and personal activities.

Thanks again for reaching out.

Best,

[UVA Office of the President Communications]

From: [Higher Ed Heist]
Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2026
To: [Scott C. Beardsley]
Cc: [UVA Office of the President Communications]
Subject: Pres. Beardsley’s Carol Dutton Farm, LLC

Thank you, [UVA Office of the President Communications]!

President Beardsley, perhaps you can help me understand?

What I am curious about is, as a public official running a large state university, while employed by a blue chip investment firm [in The Carlyle Group], serving on the boards of two major companies, with real estate in Maine, France, Belgium, and Costa Rica, while living in university-provided housing—why do you own a relatively modest 2-bed, 1-bath home through an LLC managed through a general or limited partnership at the edge of campus?

As you have listed your other investments in what I believe to be exhaustive detail on your SoEI, I am curious if it was an oversight to omit the limited or general partnership, or perhaps a mislabeling in the filing? Otherwise, if there is a partner, or there are partners, I can only imagine Carol Dutton Farm is one holding in a larger portfolio?

Not that this is a big story, just something curious…I plan to put up a blurb about it this coming Friday. Please respond if you would like to provide any info which could give a broader understanding or meaningful context, or if you wish to add anything.

Thanks! Have a great afternoon,

–[Higher Ed Heist]

UVA President Scott C. Beardsley: No response.

Update: Friday, March 27, 2026

On Mar 27, 2026 [UVA Chief of Staff] wrote:

[Higher Ed Heist]-

Thanks for your note. I am happy to provide a response and hope that it is helpful to you. The LLC you mention is the entity through which President Beardsley, before he was selected as president, purchased personal real estate. It is not an investment company. As you may know, it is fairly common to purchase personal real estate through an LLC.

I hope this is helpful.

Best regards-

[UVA Chief of Staff]

From: [Higher Ed Heist]
Sent: Friday, March 27, 2026
To: [UVA Chief of Staff]
Subject: Re: Follow-up on your question

Good morning [UVA Chief of Staff],

Happy Friday!

I appreciate your follow-up.

The question is not whether President Beardsley owns real estate through an LLC, at all.

It is the language on the Carol Dutton Farm, LLC Virginia SCC filing, which states that President Beardsley qualifies as the Registered Agent of Carol Dutton Farm, LLC as the “General Partner of a General or Limited Partnership that is a Member or Manager of the Limited Liability Company.”

This means that President Beardsley is a managing partner with an ownership interest in either a limited or general partnership which owns/manages Carol Dutton Farm, LLC, and that there is an undisclosed partnership behind Carol Dutton Farm, LLC.

My interest is in the partnership, not the property. Is this something you can fill in for me?

Thanks!

–[Higher Ed Heist]

Thank you [Higher Ed Heist]. I believe I know the answer to the [above], but I want to confirm for sure, so let me do that, and I will reply later today.

Best regards-
[UVA Chief of Staff]

On Mar 27, 2026 [Higher Ed Heist] wrote:

Got it. Thanks, [UVA Chief of Staff]!

UPDATE: Monday, March 30, 2026

On Mar 30, 2026, [UVA Chief of Staff] wrote:

[Higher Ed Heist]-

To reply to your follow-up, there is no undisclosed partnership behind the LLC. President Beardsley, as a private citizen, is an individual member.

Thank you again.

Best regards-

[UVA Chief of Staff]

From: [Higher Ed Heist]
Subject: Re: Follow-up on your question
Date: March 30, 2026
To: [UVA Chief of Staff]

Good morning [UVA Chief of Staff],

I hope you had an excellent weekend!

I appreciate this explanation. Can you help me understand why President Beardsley’s Va. SCC [filing] contradicts this?

I am attaching the Va. SCC filing, with relevant items highlighted, for your reference.

Note, it seems unusual for a single-member LLC to be manager-, and not member-managed—which would further signal that there are partners and an external manager/management entity.

I know President Beardsley is an expert in business and so I’m sure there are thoughtful reasons why he has structured his operation this way. It’s just that the explanation he is providing does not match the information presented on the filing.

What am I missing?

Thanks!

–[Higher Ed Heist]

Awaiting response from [UVA Chief of Staff]…

$$$

Eighteen days into her presidency at Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University, Marva Johnson started a company.

Johnson’s first day at FAMU, Florida’s only public HBCU, was on August 1, 2025. Pedagogy Executive Search, LLC launched on August 18—a working Monday, and the same day FAMU residence halls opened to accept students for the fall semester.

Classes started on August 25.

One week before the first day of classes of her first semester as FAMU president, while students were making plans for the semester and professors finalized lesson plans, Johnson was working on a business plan.

Private Trust

Johnson, who also goes by Marva Brown Johnson, is not listed on the Pedagogy Executive Search, LLC incorporation filing, which was prepared by tax consultants from a small Jacksonville-based firm.

Rather, the named manager for Pedagogy Executive Search, LLC is Brownland Legacy Private Family Trust.

Companies can tailor control and obscure ownership by naming trusts, rather than individuals, as company managers, executives, and officials.

Sharing mailboxes

Another company, Acre Holdings LLC of Florida, names Brownland Legacy Private Family Trust as its manager; both companies and the trust share a “principal office”—an address for a rented mailbox in a Jacksonville strip mall UPS Store.

Johnson is the only named representative on company reports.

Florida LLCs are required to provide a principal office location, which must be a valid street address and not a rented mailbox or P.O. Box.

A Winter Garden mailing address listed for Johnson on Acre Holdings LLC of Florida paperwork is two and a half hours from the UPS Store.

FAMU’s Tallahassee campus is just as far.

Executive Search

According to Pedagogy Executive Search, LLC’s incorporation filing, the company:

“…focuses on identifying and recruiting top-level leadership for research, educational, private institutions and organizations.”

The filing continues:

“We leverage an extensive network [of] industry and professionals and organizations.”

Seven months after incorporating Pedagogy Executive Search, LLC, the firm has no website and no online presence beyond state-required annual filings.

Summer Session

Johnson’s experience in higher education executive search had been as a candidate, rather than executive or search professional, as she launched Pedagogy Executive Search, LLC.

Her first days in office, from early to mid-August, were during the campus lull between summer and fall semesters.

She had not yet led the university on a day when campus was not empty.

Georgia Holdings

Currently, Johnson is the only named representative on Acre Holdings LLC of Florida reports.

This reflects changes made to the organization’s structure in 2024, implemented by Johnson’s tax consultant, who removed herself and another individual, then named as owners, from the company.

Also removed was Acre Holdings, LLC, a separate company registered to a rural residence in southwest Georgia, as company manager—replaced by Brownland Legacy Private Family Trust.

On reports filed with the Georgia Corporations Division, Johnson is named as Acre Holdings, LLC’s registered agent, the designated recipient for company documents.

The same reports show Acre Holdings, LLC’s Georgia office address and Johnson’s mailing address as the same location, an hour and a half northwest of FAMU’s campus.

The company website states that Acre Holdings, LLC owns 22 acres and two rental properties; provides property management services, and envisions endeavors including real estate development, custom home design, and a solar farm.

Early County, Georgia property records reflect the residence as a Brown family homestead dating to 1979.

Paparazzi, Tax Watch

Johnson is on the board of Florida TaxWatch, a watchdog organization which “works to improve the productivity and accountability of Florida government.”

While a third enterprise, Real Estate Paparazzi, transacts business using Johnson’s rented mailbox as its address, it does not appear to have been registered or legally established.

Key Unanswered Questions

These are questions asked of Johnson, FAMU Public Relations, FAMU’s general counsel, and Florida TaxWatch’s public relations specialist:

“It seems that, when an individual is starting out in a new position, especially one of such importance as president of a major public university, they would concentrate their efforts entirely on this new position. What led [Johnson] to pursue this new enterprise, even as [she was] taking on the FAMU presidency?”

“How will [Johnson] affirm to the FAMU and Florida communities that [her] efforts as FAMU president are not reduced, and that [her] concentration is not split when operating this new business?”

“As there is an overlap in [her] role as university president, and as a search expert seeking university presidents…what mechanisms are in place to ensure there are no conflicts of interest, real or perceived?”

All were ignored.

$$$

Each section headline is a link to an article which details the installation proceedings of the State University System of Florida’s chancellor and of each subsequent System school president since the chancellor’s election in November 2022.

Instances are interchangeable: school trustees, the Florida Board of Governors, the state, and the individuals themselves ignored, disregarded, and violated myriad institutional and governing policies.

This renders the process by which these bodies installed each school president invalid. None are or have ever been chancellor or president.

Quotes featured call out of the boldest violations. Marva Johnson, the fifth president installed, is listed first as there is a current lawsuit challenging the legitimacy of the the process by which she became president of Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University.

The rest follow in order.

Lawsuit filed over FAMU President selection process

WTXL, Jun 16, 2025.

“The lawsuit filed by attorneys Ennis Leon Jacobs Jr. and Mutaqee Akbar questions ‘whether due process requirements, and specific legal standards related to the operation and administration were met in the process to select and appoint the 13th President of FAMU.’”

Florida senator, a DeSantis ally, has clear path to become next leader of the state’s university system

Higher Ed Dive, Aug. 29, 2022

“Rodrigues became a rumored contender for the chancellorship [and] is set to take over the university system as Florida colleges find themselves adapting to legislation he has sponsored or introduced […] that made presidential searches at the state’s public colleges secret until their final stages. Rodrigues introduced it in the Senate.”

Giving up a public leadership search, UF sacrificed legitimacy

Daytona Beach News Journal, Oct. 16, 2022.

“Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Nebraska […] arrived as the sole university presidential pick to emerge from a secret conclave’s deliberations.”

Richard Corcoran in line to become New College President

Florida Politics, Jan 31, 2023.

“A new board of trustees at New College of Florida intends to name Richard Corcoran as its next President. Carlos Trujillo, president and founder of Continental Strategy, revealed the plans in a letter to clients and colleges. Corcoran was a founding partner for the consulting firm.

Of note, word of Corcoran’s apparent hire comes before any news of current President Patricia Okker’s future with the school. While Florida’s Sunshine Law requires all decisions by the board to be made in publicly noticed meetings, Trujillo treats the matter like a done deal.”

The Politics Behind Adam Hasner’s Selection as FAU President

Boca Magazine, Feb. 11, 2025.

“Several months ago, however, I heard that Hasner was the governor’s pick.

Trustee Vice Chair Sherry Murphy said at the start that this would be a “transparent” search. It was, though not in the way she intended. We could see from the start how it would end.”

Jeanette Nuñez named sole finalist in search for FIU president.

Florida Phoenix, May 8, 2025.

“Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office had reached out to the university “and suggested that we consider Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez as the next leader for FIU,” FIU Board of Trustees Chair Roger Tovar said during a February special meeting in which Nuñez was introduced as interim president.

The committee unanimously agreed on Nuñez as the sole finalist, again according to FIU. In February, FIU trustee Dean Colson said the “probable results of the search are already known.”

Complaint Regarding Chair Rebecca Matthews and members of the UWF Board of Trustees

Anonymous community submission.

“The UWF Board of Trustees (BOT) appears to display a pattern of coordinated actions among certain UWF Board of Trustee members. These raise concerns about compliance with Florida's Sunshine Law in addition to possible violations of state board and UWF BOT procedures. This pattern began in December 2024 and suggests coordination either among themselves or with individuals associated with the Governor's office.”

$$$

Over a period of two weeks beginning five working days into his term as UNC-Chapel Hill chancellor, Lee Roberts and his business partners sold $31 million in unregistered securities representing shares in an undisclosed investment or investments to 23 investors through a Delaware limited partnership controlled by a Delaware LLC in which Roberts is an Executive Officer as a Managing Member.

“Member” is a formal role in an LLC which establishes a legal ownership interest.

Roberts omits ownership of these funds from the financial disclosures he is required to file with the N.C. State Ethics Commission as a public official, an action which the forms classify as a misdemeanor.

Roberts and his partners executed a similar transaction prior to his being named UNC chancellor, when Roberts sat on the UNC Board of Governors, selling $41.5 million in unregistered securities to 32 investors, later submitting an amended filing to reflect an increase in the sale amount to $67.5 million and an increase in the number of investors to 44.

This represents the funds’ values at their initial offerings. SharpVue reports the current value of these funds as $181.5 million, and and $41.5 million, respectively.

UNC Media Relations provides assurances on Roberts behalf that “SharpVue Capital, LLC, does not have and has never had investments with the University of North Carolina or its affiliates or any entity of the [S]tate of North Carolina.”

SharpVue Capital is a management company. They form, sell, and operate investment products through dozens of funds which they have siloed and manage through LLCs and limited partnership controlled by distinct LLCs.

A private endowment for a major department store that has given tens of millions of dollars to the UNC System over the past decade invested $3 million with SharpVue Capital in a Georgia real estate project in 2023, even as Roberts sat on the UNC Board of Governors and rumors had begun to circulate that he would be named chancellor of North Carolina’s flagship university.

Note the lease. Now buy, hold, sell to partners.

Lee Roberts founded Coley Capital, a private real estate investment firm, in league with partners from Oaklane Capital, another private real estate investment firm, between 2008-2010.

Roberts lists the partnership as “Coley Capital/Oaklane Partners” on his LinkedIn profile. He lists his position in the partnership as Managing Director.

N.C. Secretary of State filings show Roberts managed the partnership through a merger and name change as the firm became Beacon Partners.

For fourteen months from late 2014 to early 2016, Roberts served in the appointed role of N.C. state budget director, reviewing state contracts including the N.C. State Education Lottery’s 10-year, $14 million lease of 2728 Capital Boulevard in Raleigh, a 520,000 square foot facility situated on 32 acres in Raleigh.

The lease includes a 5-year, $8.8 million renewal option and a provision that if the complex is sold, the purchaser will inherit the state’s lease.

After resigning from his position as state budget director in 2016, Roberts launched SharpVue Capital, an investment firm specializing in real estate development, later purchasing the complex housing the N.C. Education Lottery from a Philadelphia-based investment group for $27.5 million, inheriting an anchor tenant in his former employer through a lease he had analyzed and approved.

Roberts could expect 8 years of reliable rent payments from his former employer and new tenant, totaling $11.6 million. He held the property for just 3 years, collecting $4 million in rent from the state before selling.

On June 30, 2021 Roberts sold 2728 Capital Boulevard to Beacon Partners for $42 million, profiting $14 million for himself and his SharpVue Partners while transferring the remaining lease years, worth $7.6 million, and the $8.8 million renewal option, to his former business partners in the firm they co-funded.

Roberts’ term on the UNC Board of Governors would commence the following day.

On financial disclosures for the years Roberts served on the UNC Board of Governors, he responds to questions about “any material business dealings or business contracts with the State of North Carolina” by reporting ownership of two LLCs. Both disappear without mention from his disclosure forms once he takes office as UNC chancellor.

The North Carolina Department of Administration cannot locate records of either company or their agreements with the state. UNC Media Relations expresses that neither were associated with the Education Lottery Complex, which Roberts did not report. In an unsigned email they seek to justify the omission:

“Chancellor Roberts was a minority investor in the fund that is a part of the LLC that handled the sale of the building. There was no direct ownership of the building on his part,” UNC Media Relations writes.

Nonsense.

For context, Roberts created 4 unique LLCs, 2 in North Carolina and 2 in Delaware, to control the purchase, lease, and sale of 2728 Capital Boulevard. He is named Managing Member of each LLC. Fund names link to each LLCs’ annual report contemporary to the sale:

• SVC 2728 Capital Partners, LLC

• SVC 2728 Capital Holding, LLC

• SVDR 2728 Capital Manager, LLC

• SVDR 2728 Capital Partners, LLC

Roberts is the only SharpVue Capital representative who signed the deed of sale.

“To clarify,” UNC Media Relations continues, “on the sale of the North Carolina Education Lottery building, it was sold through an LLC of which the fund is a part owner, and the chancellor was a minority investor in that fund.”

N.C. Ethics Commission forms are clear: “For each company or business entity […] list the names of any other companies or business entities in which the Primary Company owns securities or equity interests valued at over $10,000, if known.”

As principal of the firm, Roberts knows the value of each of his and his firm’s investments.

“To further clarify the question regarding the sale of the North Carolina Education Lottery building, the lottery is one of many tenants that leases space in the building,” UNC Media Relations writes.

A Triangle Business Journal article archived on SharpVue Capital’s website announces the sale, boasting that “the Lottery takes up all the office space with the others splitting the flex space portion of the property.”

Roberts affirms by signature, “I have not transferred, and will not transfer, any asset, interest, or property for the purpose of concealing it from disclosure while retaining an equitable interest.”

The bold-faced Bald Island buy.

Roberts and his partners spent the length of his interim tenure as chancellor engaged in a multi-year civil lawsuit over SharpVue’s $56 million purchase of the Bald Head Island Ferry, first announced in May of 2022, one month short Roberts’s one-year anniversary as UNC System Board Governor.

The project “first came across his desk as state budget director,” with Roberts advising on legislation to establish the Bald Head Island Transportation Authority, a bill passed in 2017 to make operations independent and remove state oversight.

No-bid private prison contracts, Roberts’ formula, the FBI.

The FBI investigated Governor McCrory in 2015 over North Carolina’s award of $7 million in no-bid contracts for privatizing Mecklenburg County prison maintenance.

Charlotte, in Mecklenburg County, with a population of over 900,000, is North Carolina’s largest city. Pat McCrory served as mayor of the city from 1995 to 2009. The contracts were given to a McCrory donor and Charlotte real estate developer.

Roberts pushed for the contracts, dismissing estimates by state prison officials in favor of a cost analysis provided by the developer.

Roberts’s early career partner in Coley Capital/Oaklane Capital would later join the developer’s team as Principal of Investments.

A $5,000 contribution, a $350 million board seat.

Roberts would orchestrate the Connect NC bond referendum and issue, raising $2.2 billion for North Carolina infrastructure projects through the sale of 20-year state bonds, two-thirds of which would be dedicated for rehabilitation and new construction projects on North Carolina Community College and UNC System campuses: roughly $1 billion to UNC System projects, and $350 million to NCCC campus projects.

Roberts devised the formula used to determine which schools and projects would receive funding from the bond.

In December 2015, he charged a $5,100 donation to McCrory on his credit card then announced he would be leaving his position as budget director to launch a private real estate investment firm, SharpVue Capital.

Five days before the referendum vote, McCrory appointed Roberts to the NCCC Board overseeing allocation of $350 million in fresh capital for marquee campus construction and real estate investment.

With money for projects allocated, Roberts abandoned his board position just nine months into a four-year term.

He made a $2,500 donation to McCrory. Then McCrory, as a “parting gift,” appointed Roberts to the Golden L.E.A.F. (Long-Term Economic Advancement Foundation) Board. Golden L.E.A.F. is a N.C. foundation that invests in rural schools, economies, and infrastructure in tobacco-dependent North Carolina communities. The foundation holds over $1.5 billion in assets.

Roberts became Investment Committee Chair, remaining for three and a half years, until departing for the UNC System Board of Governors in 2021.

Project Phoenix in ashes.

Under McCrory’s direction, Roberts initiated “Project Phoenix,” designed as a mass sell-off of North Carolina-owned properties in “prime downtown real estate” to private investors. Roberts describes his role in the project as “leading an effort to rationalize the state’s real estate portfolio.”

Through Project Phoenix, North Carolina would have worked with private real estate developers to fabricate mixed-use retail, hotel, office, and residential spaces in the bones of state buildings Roberts would label worn or underused. McCrory planned for statewide implementation, including designs for shops, a hotel, and luxury apartments inside North Carolina’s government complex.

Roy Cooper, McCrory’s successor as Governor, halted the program upon taking office.

$$$

The Florida Division of Corporations processed Articles of Organization to form MDJ Consulting Group LLC on Tuesday, October 21.

“MDJ” is presumably Manny Diaz, Jr., the interim University of West Florida president who is listed as primary Manager on the filing. Mediated through the UWF Office of the General Counsel, Diaz confirms he is on the filing though denies the company is his.

“That is Manny’s wife’s LLC,” a UWF attorney relays over email.

“For special education consulting services.”

Tallahassee real estate developer Samuel Elliott is named as MDJ Consulting Group’s Registered Agent on the LLC’s filing. Elliott also serves in chair, treasurer, and registered agent roles for several Florida PACs, including three which share an address with Diaz’s LLC: Florida Conservative Action Fund, Stop Liberal Republicans PC, and MAGA Florida.

Tallahassee real estate investment broker Russell Doster is named as a company officer with MDJ Consulting Group. Doster serves in chair, treasurer, and registered agent roles with 17 political action committees for Florida conservative politicians, candidates, and causes, while providing accounting services to many of these PACs.

A registered agent is the legal recipient of official communications on behalf of an LLC. A company officer typically has signing authority—to enter into agreements, including financial agreements, on behalf of the LLC.

UWF trustees named Diaz sole candidate for the permanent UWF position on November 22—one month after Diaz, his wife Jennifer, and their associates formally established the new business concern.

Jennifer Diaz is named secondary manager.

According to the filing, the LLC is intended for “For profit consulting and other activities for profit.”

“This LLC has nothing to do with UWF or any projects at UWF,” the UWF attorney writes. “There is no crossover and will not be any crossover with UWF at all.”

“I have confirmed this with Manny,” says the attorney.

Diaz operated his own political action committee, Better Florida Education, from 2013 until June 2022, coinciding with his appointment as state education commissioner, when Jennifer Diaz replaced him as chair.

Better Florida Education remains active, with Mrs. Diaz continuing as chair. While the Better Florida Education website has been taken down, an archive can be accessed.

According to the archived website, the PAC’s purpose is: “promoting a sound education and business environment, and to promote good government.”

Financial reports show PAC contributions nearing $2.6 million with expenditures of $1.8 million from the PACs founding through the 2022 election cycle. Several hundred thousand dollars in PAC expenditures were paid to political consultants—notably, $80,000 to Front Line Strategies and $107,000 to Ross Consulting.

Front Line Strategies is the political consulting firm founded by Brett Doster, brother of Diaz’s MDJ Consulting Group partner Russell Doster. Ross Consulting belongs to Ashley Ross, a new UWF trustee appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis in December 2024 who voted to name Diaz interim UWF president in May 2025.

Diaz’s campaign spent an additional $52,000 with Ross in the 2022 election cycle.

“You can’t knock people for what they did in their private life before,” Diaz said, responding to this reporter’s question about his conflicts of interest at a UWF presidential search forum on December 10, 2025.

“[Ross] had a prior work relationship with me when I was in office,” said Diaz. “That has no bearing on what happens at UWF,” he continued.

Diaz spent $160,000 with Ross to help him get elected to the Florida Senate. Now she is in position to make him president.

As a trustee, Ross will vote on whether to elect Diaz to the permanent UWF president position at a trustees meeting that will take place in January. The date and time have yet to be shared.

Emails to Ross asking what steps she will take to ensure that her presidential vote will be based on merit and not her previous partnership and financial relationship with Diaz have not been returned.

Additional Diaz PAC expenditures include $2,700 on promotional cigars, and $13,000 for “Birthday Card Operations”—paid to members of Diaz’s immediate family for mailing birthday cards to supportive constituents. This amount does not include printing costs of $6,500, paid to Front Line Strategies.

Diaz’s PAC also contributed $6,000 toward Governor DeSantis’s campaign and PAC, and $2,000 toward Jeanette Nuñez’s state senate campaign. Nuñez would be selected as DeSantis’s lieutenant governor before being installed as Florida International University’s interim president, and then president, at the direction of DeSantis—just months before Diaz would be named interim president of UWF.

Diaz is not the only college executive Doster has previously partnered with in business or politics.

Doster was treasurer and registered agent for the PAC chaired by former Florida representative Tommy Gregory, More Jobs and Better Wages PAC. Gregory chaired the committee, aimed at blocking the 2020 Florida Amendment 2 to gradually increase the state’s minimum wage to $15.

Gregory was installed as president of State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota in April 2024.

Doster is also treasurer and registered agent for Friends for Carolina Amesty. Amesty, a former Florida house representative, was indicted in 2024 for forgery after notarizing fraudulent documents which allowed Central Christian University—an unaccredited private school near Orlando run by her family—to obtain an operating license by claiming several academics not affiliated with the school had been employees.

Questions emailed to Doster asking about his intended contributions to a special education consulting firm were not returned.

Diaz is not the only recent UWF executive to establish a new business interest shortly after their appointment.

Rachel Moya, like Ross named a new UWF trustee by Governor DeSantis in December 2024, filed Articles of Organization in April 2025 to establish Scale Strategies, Inc., a Florida LLC.

The following month, she would vote to elect Diaz UWF president.

According to Moya’s website, Scale Strategies, Inc.’s mission is “to provide specialized consulting services that empower education companies to navigate government relations effectively… and secure critical funding opportunities.”

With Ross, Moya will vote on whether to approve Diaz as UWF’s permanent chief executive at a trustees meeting in January. When reached for comment regarding potential conflicts of interest, Moya responded via email that she was traveling and had “spotty availability.” She did not respond to further requests for comment.

Chris Moya, Rachel Moya’s husband, contributed $5,000 to Diaz’s PAC during Diaz’s last active election cycle.

$$$

Legitimate academic leaders and defenders of the academy against DEI, they are not.

Richard Corcoran is New College of Florida president. Corcoran immigrated to the United States from Canada. Corcoran is the first president in New College’s history as a public college to hold the position without having earned a Ph.D.

Jeanette Nuñez is Florida International University president. Nuñez is a first-generation American daughter of Cuban immigrants. Nuñez is the first president of FIU since 1979 to hold the position without having earned a Ph.D.

Adam Hasner is Florida Atlantic University president. Hasner is Jewish. Hasner is one of two school presidents since the school’s founding in 1961 to hold the position without having earned a Ph.D.

Marva Johnson is Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University president. Johnson is black and female. Johnson is the first FAMU president since 1950 to hold the position without having earned a Ph.D. or Ed.D.

Manny Diaz, Jr. is University of West Florida president. Diaz is a first-generation American son of Cuban immigrants. Diaz is the first president since 1974 to hold the position without having earned a Ph.D.

Moez Limayem is president of the University of South Florida. Limayem immigrated from North Africa.

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In Item 2 of Roberts’ work agreement, the Board of Governors explicitly requires Roberts to abide by UNC Policy 300.2.2.2[R], the 25-year-old policy against executive double-dipping.

The Board of Governors had repealed this policy two months prior.

Records request for: “[a]ny documents which reference the repeal of this policy […] any meetings in which the repeal was discussed, and any documents naming attendees present at these meetings; [any] communications, including emails and text messages, between involved parties which reference the repeal” returned no records, and the following response from the UNC System Office:

“We have conducted an exhaustive search and have concluded that there are no written communications that would be responsive to why 300.2.2.2[R] was moved.”

Following this response, the policy disappeared from the index of the UNC Policy Manual and Code, the governing policy document for the UNC System.

According to the same Policy Manual and Code, policy changes can only be made by the Board of Governors, according to established procedures—at publicly-announced, publicly-held meetings with a quorum of directors.

No Board of Governors meeting was held on the day 300.2.2.2[R] was repealed.

In contrast, agenda notes and documents from the February 28-29, 2024 Board of Governors meeting clearly delineate the process by which the Board of Governors made legitimate modifications to Section 1100.1 of the UNC Policy Manual:

Potential revisions to Section 1100.1 of the UNC Policy Manual and Code are clearly listed on the meeting agenda; open discussion, detailed in meeting minutes, reflects the deliberate process by which changes to policy are analyzed and implemented.

No such documentation exists to show the process by which the Board of Governors repealed 300.2.2.2[R].

This may nullify the repeal.

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STEP 1. A politically connected individual with little or no academic experience is appointed to the Board of Governors, a board of trustees, or a political position or board attached to public education. This serves to graft education credentials onto the work history of a candidate who otherwise has no qualifications or experience.

In their outside career, they will have some specialized financial expertise, such as a unique familiarity with tax protections afforded religious institutions or education nonprofits, or knowledge of real estate, or private equity, or lobbying activities; and unique access to influential people or resources. They will have a career of starts and stops, with short-term positions with various and varied public and private agencies.

STEP 2. They serve a short term…

STEP 3. The dominant political body of the state guts the governing board of the institution they/it intends to take over, replacing enough trustees with allies to establish a majority. At least two of the board members are inflammatory conservative figures associated with conservative think tanks. The rest are more polished, with political ties and business interests, who are primarily lawyers, then real estate developers, and business or political consultants.

STEP 4. An “emergency” board meeting is held with limited or no notice. Before the meeting, new trustees telegraph, and even flaunt/taunt over social media, their intended vote—in what appears to be flagrant violation of Sunshine laws.

STEP 5. A tense and confrontational meeting is held, where the campus community, caught off-guard, gathers for an emotional protest. The new board stonewalls, mocks and gaslights. Some members from the old board who survive the expulsion may remain on as vestiges who may speak for the community but hold meaningless minority votes.

STEP 6. The existing president is accused of heresy and indoctrination. To save humanity, the board ousts this president, appointing the groomed president to the role of interim. A date is set for their start.

STEP 7. They are confirmed by the Board of Governors in a sham vote. At the confirmation hearing, some version of a work history document (CV, résumé, or list of select former employers and accomplishments) is distributed, that is incomplete and inappropriately formatted, which the public is given no time to review. It goes unnoticed that they list or omit the sole proprietorship or controlling interest in a private company (or several) with cryptic or puzzling activities and limited or no web presence. Chances are the name is generic and includes words like “consulting” and “strategy” and “capital” and “partners.”

STEP 8. The trustees approve a salary of two to three times the salary of their predecessor, a qualified academic.

STEP 9. A sham search using expensive search firms in conducted. In eight months, the board which was stacked to favor the interim candidate decides their tenure in the interim makes them the most qualified person for the full-time position. They name them the sole finalist for the permanent position.

STEP 10. An unusual work agreement is signed, which has head-scratching perks, concessions, and exceptions.

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