GULFPORT, Fla. — Alumni of Stetson University College of Law are again calling on their alma mater to take public action against Tampa native and fellow Stetson grad Pam Bondi, who was fired Thursday from her role as U.S. Attorney General.
Nearly 400 graduates, including attorneys and two former judges, signed a letter in February urging Stetson Law to publicly denounce any of Bondi’s actions that run counter to the school’s values.
Watch report from Tampa Bay 28 reporter Chad Mills
Thursday, the author of that letter, Pinellas Park attorney and Stetson alum Johnny Bardine, sent a follow-up email renewing the demands, calling on the school to revoke Bondi’s honorary awards and issue a statement reaffirming its commitment to ethical legal practice.
Bondi had faced intense scrutiny for months over her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case files, which critics say exposed victims while concealing information about alleged enablers.
Bardine said the school has a responsibility to uphold its longstanding standards of legal ethics and public service.
“We fully expect the administration to update its stance and issue a clear public statement to the alumni network and media,” Bardine wrote in the email to the school’s dean and board of trustees. “This statement should reaffirm the school's ethical standards and explicitly distance the institution from Bondi’s now-disgraced tenure and handling of the Epstein files.”
Retired Circuit Court Judge and Stetson alum Lynn Tepper, who co-signed the February letter, said Bondi’s record will cast a long shadow over the school if no action is taken.
She also takes issue with Bondi’s actions regarding the Epstein case and its victims.
“This will have a very long, lasting impact, and yes, it will overshadow anything she did that was considered valued in her career,” Tepper said.
Bardine has given the school until next Tuesday to respond to his email from Thursday.
“As an attorney, and a Stetson-trained attorney, and someone who’s obligated to follow the oath of attorney in Florida, I think she’ll be remembered quite poorly as someone who fell short of those tenets and those principles,” Bardine said.
When contacted by Tampa Bay 28 about Bardine’s request, Stetson Law denied comment.
In a post on X, Bondi defended her record as U.S. Attorney General.
WATCH: Political analyst Susan MacManus discussed the firing with Tampa Bay 28 anchor Paul LaGrone
“Leading President Trump’s historic and highly successful efforts to make America safer and more secure has been the honor of a lifetime, and easily the most consequential first year of the Department of Justice in American history,” she wrote.
Bondi earned her law degree from Stetson Law in 1990, and her public service has been recognized by the school in the years since.
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