‘Loyalty pledges': New UF president's $15M contract ties pay to DeSantis' agenda

Miami Herald

2 days ago

The University of Florida's tentative $3 million-a-year offer for President-elect Santa J. Ono includes an unusual clause that may ease some of his right-wing critics' biggest concerns: His job performance — and potentially his pay — will be tied to how well he upholds educational reforms championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Ono, a three-time university president most recently at the University of Michigan, is poised to lead Florida's flagship public university under a five-year deal worth up to nearly $15.4 million plus benefits. If the Florida Board of Governors ratifies Ono's appointment on Tuesday, it's possible he'll be breaking his own record for highest-paid public university president.
But it's not just the money raising eyebrows — it's the terms.
Appended to the final page of Ono's draft contract is an exhibit containing 'key metrics' that the UF's Board of Trustees — heavily populated with DeSantis appointees — will use to evaluate his salary raises and performance bonuses. Beyond traditional benchmarks like student success and research output, Ono will be judged on his cooperation with the governor's Office of Government Efficiency (known as 'Florida DOGE') and how effectively he combats attempts to spend funds on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The metrics also task Ono with appointing a provost and deans who are 'firmly aligned with and support the principles guiding Florida's approach to higher education,' as well as weeding out courses with 'low return on investment' from curriculum.
Read more: DeSantis halts UF's search for liberal arts dean amid conservative backlash
The inclusion of specific political directives in a university president's performance review is 'unusual — if not, unprecedented,' said James Finkelstein, a researcher at George Mason University's school of policy, who along with research professor Judith Wilde has analyzed more than 300 contracts for college presidents. 'These are loyalty pledges,' he said.
Both were struck by the lack of clear quantitative measures for the metrics, and said their placement — tucked into an exhibit at the contract's end — potentially signals an effort to quietly anchor political oversight into the role.
'This is just a way for them to keep him in check based on what they've seen him do before,' Wilde said, referencing Ono's prior outspoken support of DEI programs.
As president of Michigan, Ono pushed for a 'DEI 2.0' plan and oversaw a diversity office once considered at the forefront of academia's DEI movement. But amid escalating public scrutiny and potential funding threats from the Trump administration, Ono shuttered the office in March.
The measure shows how Florida's flagship institution is formalizing political expectations for Ono, who conservative critics have renounced as a left-wing opportunist feigning opposition to DEI to appease the state's Republican base. Questions about whether Ono sincerely believes DEI is a well-intentioned movement run amok by political ideology have swirled since May 4, when he emerged as the sole finalist for the UF presidency.
UF spokesperson Cynthia Roldan, reached through email, declined to answer questions about why and when the performance metrics explicitly tied to prohibiting DEI spending and other DeSantis-backed measures were added into Ono's draft contract. Similar metrics aren't included in the contracts of previous UF presidents or recently appointed presidents at other state universities.
Fewer perks, more strings
Ono's contract also guarantees him a tenured faculty position within UF's ophthalmology department, securing him a post-presidential salary equivalent to the highest-paid full professor in the department. But the new deal also strips out some of the fringe benefits seen in his and his predecessor's prior contracts.
Former UF President Ben Sasse's five-year, $10 million agreement included plenty of goodies, including tuition benefits for his entire extended family, as well as covered travel expenses for his wife and children. By contrast, Ono's tentative UF contract is notably leaner — and stricter.
One notable requirement: Ono must reside in the Dasburg President's House on campus. This follows controversy during his Michigan tenure, when he purchased a home 40 miles from campus despite being contractually obligated to live in university housing.
Gone, too, are some of the quirkier perks. Ono, a trained concert cellist, had previously insisted that the University of Michigan fund transportation and storage for his three cellos. That request is absent from his UF contract.
Despite shedding perks, Ono's deal remains a financial powerhouse, solidifying UF's top job as one of the most lucrative posts in public higher education. And with that comes unprecedented accountability to a state-led ideological vision.
'I guess the only real similarities I see between the two [contracts] are the ability to get a world-class salary right up front,' said Wilde. 'And now, a very public test of political loyalty.'