Photo: CBS 12
Just days after coming down to three finalists, the search for the next president of FAU has been suspended.
The university made that announcement Sunday, due to a letter from the State University System of Florida Chancellor. Ray Rodrigues tells the Florida Atlantic Board of Trustees that "anomalies" have been alleged in the presidential search.
The chancellor's office received "concerning information," including that search committee members conducted a straw poll to rank their six preferred candidates out of a list of 63 applicants.
The letter also noted that one candidate who was not identified claimed that a questionnaire asked if his sexual orientation was "queer" and whether he was "male or transgender male," while another survey asked whether his gender is "male, female or other" and what his "preferred pronouns were."
Due to this information, the search has been suspended until further notice. That means that open forums with the finalists scheduled for this week have been canceled.
Among those announced finalists was Michael Hartline, Dean of the College of Business at Florida State University, Vice Admiral Sean Buck of the U.S. Naval Academy and Jose Sartarelli, the former Chancellor of the University of North Carolina Wilmington.