Alex Acosta New Dean At FIU

The FIU search has been the subject of several posts here.  Due to Florida sunshine laws, it was highly public and the press reported breath and burp of the search committee.  Early on, Acosta's name surfaced as one of several candidates under consideration.  In February I asked whether press coverage of such a high profile (and politically connected) candidate could skew the FIU dean search.  In the end, we'll never know how this early publicity – and any pressure that might of resulted – influenced the outcome of the search.   I also noted that many members of the FIU faculty apparently didn't support Acosta's candidacy.  (Howard fleshed this issue out a bit more here.)

Beyond the evident disagreement among FIU faculty, selecting a person with a controversial political background carries certain risks.  Today, the Miami New Times reports that FIU trial advocacy director H.T. Smith believes that Acosta's history in the Civil Rights Division "has caused a rift with the black community" and he argues that Acosta must "reach out to professors and staff in the FIU community. And he needs to do it quickly."  And the NAACP had already chimed in earlier in the search, saying that his hiring policies as U.S. Attorney were a cause of concern.  

Still, Acosta brings some big positives to FIU.  He presumably has strong political and personal connections in the state.  And everyone at FIU expects he'll raise a ton of money.  All politics aside, we'll be interested to see how Acosta's transition into academic culture proceeds – much in the same way as many folks are curious about the upcoming tenure of incoming Rutgers-Newark dean (and brand new academic) John Farmer.