On September 23, 2014 , Senator Thrasher was named President of FSU. It had been a long search to find a successor for Eric Barron who had ably led the school for four years until his departure in early 2014. However, Thrasher’s appointment caused turmoil on campus, pitting students against one another, those that appreciate and support Thrasher’s appointment and those that absolutely do not. Though many such big decisions are made every day that affect the students, this issue hits home for most because Tallahassee and FSU have become a home to so many, and most students are speaking out on the topic. Usually students are quieter, keeping their opinions to themselves, not quite confident enough to share what’s on their mind. But the response to Thrasher’s appointment as FSU President has been simply overwhelming. For a generation described as apathetic to the events going on around them, the uproar can be considered a source of pride. While the majority of students are vehemently opposed to his appointment, there are others who revel in it.
The students care. The student’s will take action. These student’s voices will not be silenced, no matter which side they stand on.
Callie Haskins
Senior
Major: Theatre
Florida State University
“Well guys, our school blew it. They fucking blew it. We bit back as hard as we could, but in the end money won again, as it always seems to do in what looks more and more like a plutocratic wasteland of a country. I’m livid, I’m absolutely disgusted, and just… really heartbroken, to be honest. Because this is the society we live in now. This is where we are. And as each day goes by, the less it seems like we’ll ever be able to change it. John Thrasher will bring nothing but harm to our already unstable university, and has nothing but his, the Koch’s, and Rick Scott’s interests in mind. The board has spoken and they’ve made it very, very clear that they care nothing for the welfare of FSU’s students or faculty, despite the insane amount of uproar we’ve so publicly showed. I will never, ever stand by this decision. And if value your peers, your school, and yourself, you won’t either.”
Christian Dauble
Junior
Major: Music
Florida State University
“I would let you quote the other things I want to say but most of them are curse words and a few of those aren’t in English.
“We are a very close knit community within the College of music and we take great pride in the works of our university and are not willing to let all of our hard work be dismissed and overshadowed by poor choices of the university. Being performing artists, we are also well aware of the importance of supportive leadership because we are the first to be hurt when problems arise within the school’s administration.”
Jerry Funt
Senior
Major: Philosophy/ Economics
Florida State University
“I do not approve of Thrasher’s appointment, and even more I am actively opposed to it. Since February 19th, 5 days after even the first rumor that President Barron was leaving for Penn State was put out (he actually resigned 2/17 and his last day was 4/2), Thrasher’s name was in the mix. His name has consistently been the top name, despite consistent student and faculty opposition for months.
I went to the student forums with both search firms, almost every PSAC meeting, both BOT meetings, each candidate student forum, and anything else that was relevant since this search started. One thing was clear consistently; student voices mean nothing unless they’re agreeing with what is happening. The arguments against Thrasher haven’t been political, and they haven’t been baseless. I think a lot of people kind of assumed that was the case. The issue is that Thrasher was simply granted the position without proper credentials and with the university community unquestionably opposing him. I saw Thrasher supporters show up twice throughout this search process; when his student interview happened and when he was selected. Outside of that, I watched hours upon hours of public comment several times a month. For 2 hours at the BOT meeting, people came and spoke and begged and pleaded for the Trustees not to select Thrasher. The day before, the same thing happened at the PSAC. It never mattered. I have spent at the very least 2 dozen hours total since the search began watching student after student, faculty member after faculty member, and community member after community member ask for Thrasher not to be selected. It didn’t mean a damned thing. I think the Associated Press story in which Gary Fineout released details about emails in which Thrasher *actively* emailed the private search consultant and the PSAC chair about the May 21st vote to streamline him as the original candidate had two quotes from the emails that the search consultant (Bill Funk) sent Thrasher that described it best. FSU was trying to “concoct a legitimate process” and the search as a whole was “a sham.” We knew this search was rigged, we consistently said it was. We raised legitimate arguments against his candidacy, but he had too many friends making the choices.
There are certain conflicts of interest to note here. First, the group that made the final decision was the Board of Trustees. In the early 2000′s, Thrasher wanted FSU to have a medical school and the Board of Regents said “no.” Thrasher then worked with then-Governor Jeb Bush to restructure the entire state university system on the back of a cocktail napkin, creating the Board of Trustees and Board of Governors in the process. Thrasher got his medical school (which was then named after him) and he became chair of FSU’s BOT. This means Thrasher LITERALLY CREATED the organization that gave him the job.
The person who appoints member to the BOT is primarily the Governor. At this point, it’s Governor Rick Scott, who appointed 5 of the current BOT members. John Thrasher is Rick Scott’s current campaign chair.
The current chair of the BOT is Allan Bense, who served with Thrasher in the legislature and has known him for years. Kathryn Ballard, the Trustee who made the motion for Thrasher to be the next president at the meeting, is the wife of Brian Ballard. Brian Ballard is a lead fundraiser for Governor Scott’s reelection campaign. Ed Burr, another Trustee and the chair of the Presidential Search Advisory Committee, has personally donated to Senator Thrasher’s political campaigns. Various other members of the BOT also openly admitted to knowing Thrasher and I can provide more insight on that if needed.
The group that the BOT made to suggest finalists, the Presidential Search Advisory Committee, is just as bad. Ed Burr, Allan Bense, and Kathryn Ballard were all on the PSAC. So was John McKay, a former Florida Senate President (with the GOP). Al Lawson, a legislator who is *currently employed* by Allan Bense, a clear conflict of interest in the selection process. Delores Spearman also contributed to Senator Thrasher’s campaign. Drew Weatherford was also on the PSAC. His brother is the current Speaker of the House in Florida’s legislature, Will Weatherford. OH, also Will Weatherford is Allan Bense’s son-in-law, not that anything like that would be a conflict or anything. Mike Harrel was also on the PSAC. Harrel is a lobbyist for the Florida Medical Association, which has donated to John Thrasher, Rick Scott, and Jimmy Patronis’ campaigns. It was also the organization the Thrasher was lobbying for when he received one of his two ethics violations (that we know of).
Needless to say, I’m furious. This search was stacked from the start. It was a set up. For a candidate to come to this university and say of sexual assault in the student forums “alcohol consumption is a part of it,” shifting blame for sexual assault to victims, and get the job is a travesty. Especially when our student body president votes for him. That being said, I’m fucking disgusted with student body president Stefano Cavallaro. How dare he not stand with students. 87% of respondents didn’t want Thrasher. Over 90% actively wanted Michele Wheatly. Almost as many would have liked Michael Martin. 11% wanted Thrasher, as the student representative he should have stood with us and had an FSU constitutional responsibility to do so. Student Senate and the Congress of Graduate Students both passed resolutions in June calling for more students to be on the PSAC and expressing dissatisfaction with the search. At his first BOT meeting, Stefano described students as “happy” and “very happy” in regards to the search, lying through his teeth. He misrepresented us the same way at this last BOT meeting when he voted in favor of John Thrasher. When I asked him how he could justify doing that afterwards, he brushed me off and didn’t provide an answer. Stefano ran for student body president unopposed, it shows with how little he cares about the student body.Every single time the PSAC voted on what to do with Thrasher, every single student and faculty member, and the only dean, all voted against him. They were powerless against a political/corporate super-majority, many of which knew Thrasher personally.”
Giancarlo Gonzalez
Freshman
Major: Political Science
Florida State University
“No I do not approve of [Thrasher's] appointment. To break down why I don’t resides in the simple questions he choose to ignore in his interview. When asked on his opinion on Global Warming and Evolution he merely sidestepped away from it using the excuse of ‘not having enough information’ or ‘my faith will guide me’. Let it be know that I have no quarrel against any religious belief but to be the head of an academic institution and to not believe in such fundamental things is an insult to our school! Even if he only said that to avoid controversy because he does believe in it but did’t wish to lose his constituents who don’t then can we truly say as a student body we want someone who cannot endorse the pursuit of these topics which will be vital for ‘Us’ (the student body) in the future. He’s looking at this school as a political advantage for his re-election when he should be looking at it as the president of university, the centerfold of a place of learning and knowledge. To use us as a tool for his own benefit is a spit at our faces. Has he ever taught a class or been a professor? Does he have any experience in dealing with higher education or does he assume that his political experience will be sufficient in dealing with us? If the latter then he and us are in for a ride. We are not politicians or interns, we are students who have just entered this grand game we call life and rather than having a mentor who is experienced with what the students want or need we have a senator who was a part of the government shutdown!”
Adam Robinson
Freshman
Major: Computer Science
Florida State University
“I don’t approve [of Thrasher's appointment] because he doesn’t have any idea on what it takes to lead a university, he is not an academic, and he is causing this university to be divided because he is so unpopular with the students and faculty. [Which is due to] the fact that he hasn’t had any experience leading anything in academia, hasn’t been a professor, and the fact that he had an unfair shadow on the search process from early on. The board of trustees definitely overrode the voice of the students. The survey of taken by almost 700 students shows that Thrasher was deemed to be, by the students and by an overwhelming majority, not qualified for the job and not the right person to lead.”
Ed Town
Freshman
Major: Political Science/ Economics
Florida State University
“I’ve been following the Presidential Search before I even started attending FSU (this is my first year here) and I don’t know if there were really qualities I was looking for. They were trying to replace President Barron, which is hard to do. But I think that it’s important to note that the FSU presidential salary is lower than at other school and that’s why Barron left. You want a leader and someone everyone was looking for, myself included, was someone who could make FSU a top 25 university. Someone with an academic background. I was not opposed to a non-traditional background, but I understand why some people are upset with why they chose him. I think honestly that some people are upset with him because they don’t like him as a politician and are upset that he’s a conservative republican and that doesn’t bode well for the school, or having a politician as president in general. We’ve heard a lot of criticism and it’s almost been dramatized by media outlets. I think he does have some support or he wouldn’t have been chosen, but the biggest problem is that the people aren’t united in it. Dr. Martin had the best academic background which Thrasher was lacking. There are benefits though, that I think people glossed over like him really caring about FSU since he’s an alumni. He doesn’t have as much higher education as other candidates but he does have experience in being a leader. It depends on what you were looking for from the beginning. One of the things that really shocked me was that he honestly can’t lobby in the state legislator for two years because they wanted to bring him on board for those reasons and now that he can’t, its disappointing. But once he leaves the legislators he might have less connections that people expected. The questions is can he really bring us up to the top 25 when we dropped three slots this last year? I’m supportive of John Thrasher as the new president and I think that other students of FSU should also support him and that we should all work together getting FSU to be a top 25 public schools rather than focusing on the politics that don’t really have to do with higher education and being disrespectful of him. Being disrespectful of him for being a conservative is not embracing diversity, a common theme on campus.”
Joseph Yeslow
Freshman
Major: History
Florida State University
“If I were to pick a president he/she would have to be an alumni of FSU, involved in Greek life at FSU, and care about the university and the students besides just being their president. Like they would have to genuinely be looking out for their best interests. Not just trying to make money off of us. I approve of [Thrasher] being appointed, he served in Vietnam so he’s a true ‘merican, and he’s an active supporter of FSU so he’s pretty tight. [I think students are opposed to his appointment] because he’s a republican and college students are usually more liberal. Also maybe because he supported Bush. I think the people in charge of appointing him are pointing our school in the right direction, FSU is growing rapidly and is as good as it’s ever been. If they think he’s the man for the job than I agree.”
Carmen Miller
Junior
Major: Theatre
Florida State Univeristy
“I definitely don’t approve of [Thrasher's appointment]. I feel that with all of the negative press FSU has been getting lately, including Jameis Winston and the investigation into the way our university handles sexual assault, the last thing we need is someone who has no real academic background, is primarily focused on politics, and is generally disliked by the students and faculty to run FSU. It’s not something that portrays our university in a very good light. I’m disappointed. FSU is a great school and I love attending it, but this is really making me confused as to why our board of trustees ignored the extremely vocal opinions of the students and faculty they should be choosing to represent fairly. They should be supportive of us, the university they represent, not their political allies. It’s all just unfair and sad.”
Ryan Pilcher
Senior
Major: Music/French
Florida State University
“I don’t approve of the appointment of Senator Thrasher. Based on what we have seen of Thrasher throughout the search process, I don’t feel that he’ll be able to leave politics outside of the university. To use an example, during one of the public forums, Thrasher was asked if he believed in evolution, to which he replied: “I have a great faith in my life that has guided me in my life in a lot of things I believe in.” I have nothing against Senator Thrasher having said faith, but it seems odd to me that he did not answer the question in a way that would reflect his open-mindedness to allow evolution to be both taught and researched at FSU. What I hear in his answer is an unwillingness to leave his political affiliations behind. In addition, the majority of the members of the Board of Trustees seem to think that Thrasher will be able to pull funding for the university out of thin air. While I do not disagree that he would likely be quite good at raising money – he is a politician – I simply can’t let slide the fact that he has multiple times in his career voted for cuts in public education funding. Celebrating Thrasher as a miracle fundraiser feels like celebrating Superman if he had started out his career as a villain rather than a hero. Finally, I have to oppose Senator Thrasher for personal reasons. In 1995, Thrasher signed a letter, along with other lawmakers, that said a Walt Disney Co. policy extending health benefits to partners of gay and lesbian employees was “anti-family.” As a proud member of the LGBT community, I have to take issue with this. I am concerned that such an attitude towards the LGBT community on campus could become part of our reality. I come from the “Deep South,” and therefore spent much of my life in the closet, and since coming out I’ve often felt afraid for my safety. Senator Thrasher’s perspective of the LGBT community fuels the social and political oppression faced by LGBT people, and thus adds to my fears for my safety.”
TJ Wilson
Freshman
Major: Engineering
Florida State University
“Absolutely [do] not [approve of Thrasher's appointment]. First off, he proposed the split of the joint FAMU-FSU engineering school (which I aim to earn a degree in; double major in computer/electrical engineering), which under law, would force the engineering program to relocate to Orlando (therefore rendering my education impossible) or eliminating it altogether (therefore forcing me to choose another university to attend for engineering). Secondly, he plans to cut funding to the arts programs at FSU by a starting base of 50%, which as you can imagine, would have an irrevocable impact on all arts programs, damaging the education of music and arts majors alike. This would include the film school, Marching Chiefs, and technology joint departments as well.In all reality, this budget altercation will extend far beyond simple budget cuts. A simple reduction in funding can have drastic effects on future students. I came here to receive a degree in engineering and to get a stable future and career. The eradication of programs under the fine arts departments will severely affect future applicants’ decisions to attend FSU. Our beloved groups such as the Golden Girls (dance arts), Marching Chiefs (music arts), and film school (various arts) will cease to exist as prominently as they do now. We will lose our interconnected community of creative individuals as we are slowly pressed to relocate or change paths and pursue a less creative passion. That lack of passion will kill us. Passion is what the world needs. It’s what a legacy like Florida State needs. Why lose that passion over some president’s convoluted desire for money?”
Emily Solley
Freshman
Major: Theatre/Creative Writing
Florida State University
“I don’t approve of his appointment. I feel like the only justification is his ability to acquire “resources” for FSU. But the position of a university president entails more than fundraising. Our president is going to be the face of the university’s culture, and the culture that John Thrasher represents is one of squashing education and academic freedom. When you look at the educational reform of the past ten to fifteen years, you can trace it back to a group of several leaders of Florida’s republican party, including Thrasher. He says he wants to bring money to Florida State while he has consistently voted to defund education. So when the face of your university is a man who not only has no academic credentials and a history of voting against funding for public universities, my degree is instantly worth a little bit less. The reputation of this university determines how much weight my degree holds with future employers. And while I’m here, the inclusiveness of the university determines the quality of professors who provide my instruction. The president of my university should be someone whose primary concern is the quality of my education in the long run. Bleeding “garnet and gold” and knowing the members of the board of trustees is not enough.”