Cries of cronyism as DeSantis bids to place rightwing ally at top university

Florida Atlantic’s search for new president halted by state officials after ‘war on woke’ Republican Randy Fine omitted from shortlist

Barely three months have passed since Florida Atlantic University gained national prominence during an unlikely run to the final four of the March Madness men’s college basketball championship.

They were heady times for Florida’s fifth largest public university, a 30,000-student campus in Boca Raton that prides itself on a claim to be the most diverse seat of higher education in the state.