Former Michigan President Santa Ono Rejected For University Of Florida Job By Florida Board Of Governors 

Photo via: Douglas R. Clifford TNS

Former Michigan president Santa Ono will no longer become president at the University of Florida after the Florida Board of Governors voted down his nomination for the role during a confirmation hearing held in Orlando, Fla., on Tuesday. 

This marks the first time in the history of the board, which has 17 members — 14 of whom were appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — and serves as the governing body for the state’s 12 public universities, that it failed to approve a university trustee board’s leadership selection. The vote to confirm Ono failed 6-10, with only member Craig Mateer absent. 

Ono, who left Michigan on May 4 after three years leading the university and was unanimously approved by the University of Florida’s Board of Trustees last week, was reportedly facing intense scrutiny from conservatives in Florida who were concerned about his policies and actions while in Ann Arbor, including his previous support of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and other initiatives they viewed as unacceptable liberal ideology. 

“@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,” said U.S. Rep. Jimmy Patronis on Twitter. 

Ono was pressed by the board for roughly three hours during his confirmation hearing in Orlando on his past support for DEI programs while leading Michigan, his views on holistic vs. merit-based admissions, gender-affirming care, climate change, his response to the COVID-19 pandemic, antisemitism and his handling of protests regarding the conflict in Gaza. 

The questions raised during Tuesday’s meeting led board member Charles Lydecker to object, saying: “We have never used this as a forum to interrogate. This is not a court of law. Candidly, this process does not seem fair to me.” 

Ono had been scheduled to sign a five-year contract with the university that could have earned him up to $15 million over his term, which would have made him one of the highest-paid public university presidents in the country. His proposed contract included a number of ideological requirements, such as how well he stopped programs that focus on DEI. He was also to cooperate with DeSantis’ Office of Government Efficiency and appoint other university officials and deans who are “firmly aligned” with Florida’s approach. 

DeSantis did not publicly make a stand on Ono but did say at a recent news conference that some of the former UM president’s statements made him “cringe.” 

Ono is now left to find a potential new opportunity in higher education, while Florida must find a new nominee that will have to gain the approval of the Board Of Governors.