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6d ago

Florida Board of Governors Rejects Santa Ono for University of Florida Presidency

Conservative criticism of his past DEI support drove the board’s 10-6 decision against confirming him.

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Then-University of Michigan President Santa Ono prepares to toss t-shirts into the crowd during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Oregon, in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Nov. 2, 2024.
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University of Florida president-elect Santa Ono answers a question during a meeting of the Florida Board of Governors in Orlando, Tuesday, June 3, 2025, as Mori Hosseini, right, chairman of the UF Board of Trustees, listens. The governors’ board met at the University of Central Florida’s downtown campus in Orlando to vote on Ono becoming Florida’s 14th president. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)

Overview

  • The Board of Governors cast a historic 10-6 vote to block Ono’s appointment as UF’s 14th president, the first time it has ever overturned a trustees’ selection.
  • Ono faced intensive questioning during a nearly four-hour meeting in Orlando about his previous leadership of Michigan’s expansive DEI bureaucracy and campus protest responses.
  • Prominent conservatives including Donald Trump Jr., Christopher Rufo and Sen. Rick Scott lobbied board members to oppose Ono over his former DEI advocacy and handling of pro-Palestinian encampments.
  • In his defense, Ono said he has since retracted support for DEI programs and vowed to uphold Florida’s higher education reforms if confirmed.
  • With Ono’s bid defeated, UF must restart its presidential search while interim leader Kent Fuchs remains at the helm.