Tuscaloosa Thread Highlights AIM Investigation Into Stuart Bell’s Leadership Record
June 25, 2026
Dr. Stuart Bell has been named Interim President of the University of Florida tonight. The vote by the Florida Board of Trustees was unanimous and an attempt to get around an ongoing dispute with the Florida Board of Governors who have the final say on such appointments.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, congratulated Bell in a post on X (formerly Twitter), “Congrats to Dr. Stuart Bell on being selected by the University of Florida to be the next university president,” DeSantis wrote. “Dr. Bell did much to elevate the University of Alabama when he was the president in Tuscaloosa and I have no doubt that he will help UF reach new heights.”
Final approval of former UA president Stuart Bell as the next permanent president of the University of Florida was never a done deal. Not in the political climate in Florida. The Board of Governors had already tuned down the appointment of former University of Michigan President Santa Ono by the UF Board of Trustees.
Adam Guillette, president of the nonprofit organization Accuracy in Media, wrote in a posting on X, that his organization had come to Tuscaloosa to investigate Bell. He claims Bell continued to support DEI after the Alabama Legislature outlawed it. “We have seen exactly what he did when he ran the University of Alabama. He was a champion for DEI and then he became a champion for deception,” Guillette said. “We hope he hasn’t used successful deception to confuse and trick both our governor and our Board of Trustees and our Board of Regents.”