Gov. Ron DeSantis, who rescinded FAMU Trustee Nicole Washington’s appointment to the board that oversees Florida’s public universities, now has named her a trustee of Miami Dade College.
Miami Dade College has seven campus and 165,000 students.
Washington, an educational consultant, will serve a four-year term on the college’s board of trustees. She’d been among 214 people placed on state boards and commissions by former Gov. Rick Scott, as his administration dwindled to a close, whose appointments DeSantis withdrew upon taking office.
DeSantis said the retractions were nothing personal, but “I think it’s important for us to take a fresh look at all this and make sure that we have folks who are going to work hard to put stuff in the right direction.”
Washington is well known in Republican and educational circles having worked in the Governor’s Office under former Gov. Rick Scott, and at the Florida Board of Governors. She served on Florida’s Constitution Revision Commission under Scott. She now runs Washington Strategies LLC, an education consultancy.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Princeton University plus advanced degrees from Mercy College and Columbia University, according to the governor’s office. Her term on the FAMU Board is set to expire in January 2020.