Adam Hasner: A Threat to FAU’s Academic Integrity and Freedom

Adam Hasner—a Vice President at the GEO Group, a notorious private prison company, and former Republican Majority Leader of the Florida Legislature—is the leading candidate to become Florida Atlantic University’s next president. He is severely unqualified for this role and would undermine FAU’s academic integrity.

Described as the “most partisan Republican in Tallahassee” by both Marco Rubio and himself, Hasner would likely use his position to censor free speech, punish his political opponents, and replace important research with far-right propaganda.

Why Adam Hasner Has No Place at FAU

• No Academic or University Leadership Experience: Hasner has never managed a university at any level and has no background in education or academic research. He is being considered for this position solely as a political favor from Governor Ron DeSantis.
• Ethical Unfitness: As an executive at the GEO Group, Hasner is complicit in the company’s well-documented abuses, including a $23 million fine for exploiting detainees as forced labor and negligence leading to multiple inmate deaths.
• Extremist Views and Actions:
  • As Majority Leader, Hasner called for abolishing the Department of Education, jeopardizing financial aid for thousands of FAU students.
  • He organized an event featuring Geert Wilders, an extremist who has called Islam a “totalitarian ideology” and advocated banning the Quran.
  • He has spread Islamophobic conspiracy theories, falsely claiming that Muslim extremists are attempting to take over and enslave the West.
• A Political Appointment, Not a Merit-Based Hire: Hasner is the second unqualified candidate pushed by DeSantis for FAU’s presidency. The previous search was scrapped after Governor DeSantis’ political ally, Randy Fine, was not selected as a finalist—despite Fine publicly stating he was promised the position. This manipulation highlights the governor’s ongoing attempt to install political loyalists rather than qualified leaders. It also exposes DeSantis' hypocrisy—while he rails against qualified "DEI hires" in education, he is actively undermining merit-based selection by pushing unqualified political appointees.

Part of DeSantis’ Plan to Destroy Academic Freedom

Hasner’s candidacy is part of Governor Ron DeSantis’ broader effort to politicize Florida’s universities and suppress academic freedom. In recent years, the DeSantis administration has:

• Installed unqualified right-wing politicians to lead five Florida universities.
• Stripped multiple courses from the General Education curriculum for exposing students to forbidden ideas.
• Implemented political surveys of professors to monitor their viewpoints.
• Given administrators the power to fire faculty solely for political reasons.
• Allowed students to secretly record and report professors for teaching banned content.
• Outlawed theories and fields of study that challenge conservative ideology.

FAU Deserves a Leader, Not a Warden

Universities should be places where students and faculty freely explore, analyze, and debate ideas—not institutions of political control. Adam Hasner is not a leader. He is a political enforcer. If appointed, he will turn FAU into Florida Atlantic Penitentiary, where academic freedom is replaced with fear and ideological surveillance.

Take Action: Defend FAU’s Future

• Sign this petition to demand a qualified, independent university president.
• Voice your opposition to Adam Hasner by contacting the FAU Board of Trustees here: Survey Link.
• Attend Adam Hasner's public forums to speak out and help stop this political takeover. The forums will take place on February 7 at the following times and locations:
  
  • Davie Campus (Liberal Arts (LA) 120)
    • 9 – 10 a.m. – Open Forum for Broward Campuses
  • Boca Raton Campus (Majestic Palm Room, Student Union)
    • 11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. – Open Forum for Faculty
    • 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. – Open Forum for Students
    • 1:45 – 2:45 p.m. – Open Forum for Staff, Donors, and Community Members
  • John D. MacArthur (Jupiter) Campus (Student Resources (SR) 149)
    • 6 – 7 p.m. – Open Forum for Northern Campuses

FAU should be an institution of learning—not a political prison. Sign now to reject Adam Hasner.