Skip to main content
Florida

Board of Governors rejects Santa Ono as UF president

On3 imageby:Keith Niebuhr•06/03/25•

On3Keith

Santa Ono
(Photo by Lon Horwedel / TheWolverine.com)

The Florida Board of Governors on Tuesday voted against Florida‘s hiring of former Michigan president Santa Ono for the same position with the University of Florida. Per The Gainesville Sun, “The decision by the 17-member board, which serves as the governing body for the state’s 12 public universities, comes a week after UF’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved Ono for president on May 27.”

The Sun added, “Ono was grilled by governors for nearly three hours on his past support of diversity, equity and inclusion programs during his time as president of the University of Michigan, and for allowing an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters to remain on campus for a month. He also was questioned at length about his views on antisemitism, and holistic versus merit-based admissions.”

Politico reporter Gary Fineout noted that among those who voted “no” were education commissioner Manny Diaz, along with former House speakers Paul Renner and Jose Oliva. He added “The backers who wanted Ono included UF Board Chair Mori Hosseni, a developer and mega-donor and long-time ally of Gov. DeSantis. They viewed the luring of the UM president to UF a sign of the school’s rising prominence.”

Now, the search for a new UF president is back on.

The school announced May 4 the “University of Florida Presidential Search Committee has unanimously and enthusiastically recommended Santa J. Ono, Ph.D., to be considered by its Board of Trustees as the sole finalist to become the University’s 14th president.” Ono, then president at the University of Michigan, later that day announced his plans to leave for the same role at Florida.

“I write today to share that I have been selected as the sole finalist for the presidency of the University of Florida, and once the appointment is approved by their Board of Governors, I expect to assume that role later this summer,” Ono wrote. “I have informed the Chair of the University of Michigan Board of Regents, Kathy White, of my decision. This decision was not made lightly, given the deep bond Wendy and I have formed with this extraordinary community.

Rahul Patel, Chair of the Presidential Search Committee at UF, was enthusiastic about the prospect of bringing in Ono in a school release.

“On behalf of the Presidential Search Committee, I am proud to announce Dr. Santa Ono as the sole finalist to be the University of Florida’s next president,” Patel said. “Throughout an extensive and thorough process, we sought a leader who could match UF’s extraordinary momentum, understand its role as the flagship university of one of the most dynamic states in the country, and inspire our community to reach even greater heights. Dr. Ono’s proven record of academic excellence, innovation and collaborative leadership at world-class institutions made him our unanimous choice. We are confident he is the right person to build on UF’s strong foundation and help realize our bold vision for the future.”

You may also like