In 2012, I was on the Board of Trustees at the University of Florida. Then-President Dr. Bernie Machen had announced his retirement , and we were in the midst of a search for a new president. The search committee had narrowed the pool of candidates to three people, and I was asked, as a Trustee, to fly to Washington, D.C., to meet with the candidates.

The request seemed odd because my understanding of the process was that we were to have a Trustee meeting to interview the three candidates and then select a new president.

Upon arriving in Washington, I was relegated to a hotel room, where one by one, each candidate came in, and we met. After meeting with each of the three candidates, I was asked by the search consultant which of the three I liked most. I shared my opinion, but said

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