In a stunning move, the board that oversees Florida’s higher education system voted against the confirmation of Dr. Santa Ono, formerly president of the University of Michigan, as the University of Florida’s 14th president.
It’s the first time in the history of the 17-member Florida Board of Governors (BOG), the governing body for the state’s 12 public universities, that it voted down a university trustee board’s leadership selection. The vote to confirm Ono failed 6-10, with member Craig Mateer absent.
The decision comes a week after UF’s Board of Trustees had unanimously approved Ono as its president-elect on May 27.
It was clear from the beginning of questioning during the board hearing in Orlando that Ono would face a more difficult time than he did back in Gainesville.
Ono was grilled for roughly three hours on his past support of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs during his time leading the University of Michigan, his views on holistic versus merit-based admissions, gender-affirming care, climate change and his response to the COVID-19 pandemic — all of which have been flashpoints in the culture wars waged by Florida’s ruling conservatives.
He also was asked about an encampment of pro-Palestine protesters that remained on the Michigan campus for a month, and about his position on antisemitism.
BOG Vice-Chair Alan Levine questioned Ono for nearly 40 minutes. He asked Ono about what he felt was an inadequate response while he was at Michigan to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack in Israel.
Ono, as he has since being announced May 4 as the sole finalist for the UF presidency, defended his actions and denounced antisemitism: “What happened on Oct. 7 deeply affected the members of my community and me personally, and so at UF I would be consistently focused on making sure antisemitism does not rear its head again.”
BOG member Paul Renner, a Republican and former Florida House speaker, questioned Ono at length about past statements he had made in favor of race-based admissions and on DEI, and repeatedly questioned the timeline of those statements.
DeSantis didn’t oppose Ono, but has opposed DEI
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who didn’t publicly oppose Ono, has inveighed against DEI initiatives and worked to eliminating them from the state’s public institutions.
He signed a bill in 2023 banning DEI initiatives in public colleges. More recently, he said during a news conference on May 29 that while some of Ono’s past statements have made him “cringe,” he planned to leave the decision of Ono’s confirmation to the members of the Board of Governors, most of whom he appointed.
Aided by a binder containing various past documents and articles, Renner’s questions at times seemed to leave Ono unsure of how to answer. Ono, who also had copies of the binder’s contents, said multiple times he couldn’t recall when he made the statements or reverted back to comments he had made previously.
When asked by Renner about his stance on race-based admissions, Ono reiterated once again that after initially supporting DEI policies he has since realized that DEI creates more “divisiveness” and fails to support all groups of people.
“I appreciate the answer, but I didn’t ask about DEI,” Renner shot back.
As Renner went on, board Chair Brian Lamb said it would have been appropriate for Ono to receive the materials in advance, and BOG member Charles H. Lydecker, who served on UF’s presidential search committee, emphasized that “this is not a court of law.”
‘This process does not feel fair to me’
“I’ve been on this board 5-6 years and we have never used this as a forum to interrogate, and to me, in this case, it feels patently unfair,” said Lydecker, who joined the board in 2019. “We’re interrogating somebody who hasn’t had a chance to review the materials in advance. …Candidly, this process does not feel fair to me.”
BOG member Jose Oliva, also a Republican and another former House speaker, chimed in, “If this line of questioning is something that does not sit well with you, you really won’t like mine,” adding, “There is an absolute need to understand what this gentleman believes, why he believes it, the things he said and when he said them.”
Mori Hosseini, chair of UF’s Board of Trustees, seemingly sensing things weren’t headed in Ono’s favor, called the questions “heartbreaking” and said that all university presidents in the state of Florida have likely made dubious decisions in their past.
He said the Board of Trustees acts as the BOG’s “boots on the ground” and will provide a “backstop” to ensure Ono is doing his job properly. “And yet you all decided today is the day we’re going to take somebody down,” Hosseini added.
Hosseini was asked about any “detractors” of Ono who had expressed interest in the UF presidency, to which he acknowledged there were some. He surprised BOG members when he said that Renner had expressed interest in the position.
Renner quickly responded, saying he was asked by a trustee to speak to Hosseini about the position, but that Hosseini said he wasn’t interested. He also said he asked about the position before taking his seat on the BOG on April 15.
“If it were offered, I’m telling you on the record, I would reject it,” Renner said.
Ono had been scheduled to sign a five-year contract with an initial base salary of $1.5 million. With annual performance and retention bonuses, Ono could have earned as much as $15 million over the life of the contract, making him one of the highest paid public university presidents in the country.
What’s next
UF’s Presidential Search Committee must now start the process over and select a new finalist who will then be vetted again by the Board of Trustees and the Board of Governors. It’s unclear if other candidates from the search that produced Ono will be considered.
Leading up to Ono’s June 3 confirmation hearing, his selection by UF had faced intense backlash from some Republican lawmakers after he was announced on May 4 as the sole finalist by UF’s Presidential Search Committee, including from U.S. Reps. Greg Steube, R-Bradenton, Byron Donalds, R-Naples, and Jimmy Patronis, R-Panama City.
“@UF sets the benchmark for education nationwide. There’s too much smoke with Santa Ono. We need a leader, not a DEI acolyte. Leave the Ann Arbor thinking in Ann Arbor,” Patronis posted June 2 on X.
Former Florida governor and current U.S. Sen. Rick Scott in a June 2 press release said he had “serious concerns about Santa Ono’s nomination,” and Donald Trump Jr. questioned on X whether “the decision makers at @UF lost their minds!???”
Who voted for, against Santa Ono
- Board of Governors members who approved of Ono’s appointment included Carson Dale, Kimberly Dunn, Edward Haddock, Brian Lamb, Charles Lydecker and Eric Silagy.
- Voting against Ono’s appointment were Ashley Bell Barnett, Timothy Cerio, Manny Diaz Jr., Aubrey Edge, Patricia Frost, Carson Good, Ken Jones, Alan Levine, Jose Oliva and Paul Renner.
