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Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
University of Florida trustees stand by their controversial choice for college president
Century Tower on the Gainesville campus of the University of Florida. (Photo by Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix) University of Florida trustees on Thursday stood by their selection of Santa Ono as the next president, despite his nomination being denied by the State University System Board of Governors (BOG). Mori Hosseini, chair of the UF Board of Trustees and a proponent of Ono, defended the UF trustees' decision to forward Ono to the BOG for final approval. 'Our Board of Trustees stands by the integrity of the search, the strength of the candidates it produced, and the principles that guided our work,' Hosseini said during a lengthy board meeting. 'This outcome is deeply disappointing to our Board of Trustees.' Ono was rejected by the Board of Governors in a 6-10 vote after he was questioned for hours about his conflicting stances on diversity, equity, and inclusion. The UF board voted unanimously in favor of Ono the week prior. Back to the drawing board: UF presidential finalist nixed for conflicting DEI stances Had he received the job, Ono's contract would have provided him about $3 million annually. 'We believe Dr. Ono was uniquely qualified to lead this university at this moment,' Hosseini continued. 'The symbolism and substance of the sitting president of a university as prestigious as University of Michigan, choosing to come to University of Florida should not be lost. It was a powerful signal that Florida's model for higher education grounded in merit, academic excellence, institutional neutrality, and accountability to students and taxpayers is earning the trust and interest of top team leaders across the country who are ready to advance this vision.' The UF presidency is being filled on an interim basis by former President Kent Fuchs. The permanent job has been open since July, when former U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse resigned from the presidency. 'We will continue to pursue the kind of bold principle and forward thinking leadership that Gator nation deserves,' Hosseini concluded. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Florida higher ed board stuns UF, blocks Santa Ono from becoming president
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. 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." "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. 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!???" 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. This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Higher ed panel sinks Santa Ono's bid to lead University of Florida
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Dr. Santa Ono and the UF president search. What we know about his rejection
For the first time ever, the body that governs Florida's 12 public universities, the Florida Board of governors (BOG), rejected a university trustee board's leadership selection. Last week, the University of Florida's board of trustees unanimously chose a new president for the university, just shy of a year after the last president stepped down. UF's trustees selected Dr. Santa Ono, who came to Florida from the University of Michigan, where he recently closed the university's DEI office after spending a good portion of his career supporting DEI efforts. And in a shocking turn of events for those paying attention to higher education in Florida, the vote to confirm Ono failed (6-10), after a three-hour questioning in which the board pointed out his unclear stances on issues like DEI and merit-based admissions. ere's why Dr. Ono was rejected by the Florida Board of Governors, what to know about his career and how he ended up as UF's top choice for its 14th president. More on Ono's rejection: Florida higher ed board stuns UF, blocks Santa Ono from becoming president It's the Florida Board of Governors' job to confirm or deny university president appointments for all of Florida's public universities. Each university's board of trustees makes a selection and waits for confirmation from the BOG before they can hire the person they've chosen. The BOG's rejection of Dr. Ono as the next president of UF was the first time the 17-member governing body has rejected a university BOT's leadership selection. Before he was rejected by the governing board this week, Dr. Ono was on track to become one of the highest-paid university presidents in the U.S., The Gainesville Sun reported. 'Newly named University of Florida President Dr. Santa Ono is set to receive a five-year compensation package worth up to $15 million, making him one of the highest-paid public university presidents in the country,' The Sun reported last week. 'The contract, part of the Florida Board of Governors' agenda packet for its June 3 meeting — when it is expected to formally approve the hire — includes an annual base salary of $1.5 million, along with an annual 3% raise and an annual 20% retention bonus.' More on UF and Dr. Ono: Here's how much Dr. Santa Ono would have received as president of the University of Florida Just one week after Dr. Santa Ono was unanimously selected by UF's Board of Trustees to become the president-elect, the Florida Board of Governors rejected the selection in a 6-10 vote on Tuesday, June 3. Ono was questioned for three hours on his past support of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs during his time leading the University of Michigan, his views on merit-based admissions, gender-affirming care, climate change and his response to the COVID-19 pandemic — all of which have been flashpoints among Florida's ruling conservatives, the Sun reported. Ono 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. Some BOG members bucked against the grilling session, saying that it felt 'unfair' to 'interrogate somebody who hasn't had a chance to review the materials in advance.' Board Chair Brian Lamb said it would have been appropriate for Ono to receive the materials in advance, and Board of Governors member Charles H. Lydecker, who served on UF's presidential search committee, said "this is not a court of law," The Sun reported. UF's Presidential Search Committee will now restart the process to select a new finalist for the Board of Trustees and the Board of Governors to either confirm or reject. It's unclear who UF is considering for the position now that Ono has been rejected. Former UF President Kent Fuchs was appointed as the interim president of the university in August 2024 and will hold the position until a new president is confirmed. Fuchs was the president of UF for a little less than 10 years. Ono was the president of three other universities before being selected by the University of Florida: the University of Michigan, the University of British Columbia in Canada and the University of Cincinnati. He also previously held faculty appointments at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Harvard University and University College London. Ono's doctorate degree is in experimental medicine from McGill University. 'We recognize that, for most of the past year, he was not setting 'policy' in consideration of the best interests of our community but was trashing and burning our institutional values and norms as a performance for University of Florida trustees,' Rebekah Modrak, a UM professor who served as Faculty Senate chair from May 1, 2024, through April 30, 2025, told The Gainesville Sun. 'On March 27, President Ono, who we now know was being considered to be the next president of the University of Florida, discontinued the DEI 2.0 plan, closed the Office of DEI at UM, and fired valuable staff who led key assessment and strategy work for DEI, among other measures that took the university more than two steps back.' Here's a list of UF's past presidents, from 1904 through present day, from the UF Website: Andrew Sledd, 1904-1909 Albert Murphree, 1909-1927 James Farr, interim president, 1927-1928 John J. Tigert, 1928-1947 Harold Hume, interim president, 1947-1948 J. Hillis Miller, 1948-1953 John Allen, interim president, 1953-1955 J. Wayne Reitz, 1955-1967 Stephen C. O'Connell, 1967-1973 E.T. York, interim president, 1973-1974 Robert Q. Marston, 1974-1984 Marshall Criser, 1984-1989 Robert Bryan, interim president, 1989-1990 John Lombardi, 1990-1999 Charles E. Young, 1999-2003 Bernie Machen, 2004-2014 Kent Fuchs, 2015-2023 (interim 2024-25) Ben Sasse, 2023-2024 Contributing: Alan Festo, Elliot Tritto, The Gainesville Sun This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Florida colleges board rejects UF president selection Santa Ono
Time of India
04-06-2025
- General
- Time of India
Historic first: Florida board rejects UF president pick, Santa Ono, in move with national implications for US academia
In an unprecedented decision on June 3, 2025, the Florida Board of Governors (BOG) rejected the appointment of Dr. Santa Ono as the next president of the University of Florida (UF), marking the first time in its history that the board overturned a university's presidential selection. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The vote, which failed 6–10 with one member absent, stunned UF leadership and sent ripples through academic circles across the US. Dr. Ono, a distinguished academic leader who previously served as president of the University of Michigan and the University of British Columbia, had been unanimously approved by UF's Board of Trustees on May 27, 2025. He was the sole finalist presented by UF's Presidential Search Committee. The decision by the state's higher education board has now forced UF to restart its presidential search process entirely. A clash over ideology and past leadership During a nearly three-hour hearing in Orlando, board members sharply questioned Ono about his views and leadership record. As reported by Mass Live, much of the scrutiny focused on Ono's past support for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, his position on race-based versus merit-based admissions, gender-affirming care, climate change policies, and his response to the Covid-19 pandemic during his time at Michigan. B Tired of too many ads? go ad free now oard Vice-Chair Alan Levine questioned Ono for nearly 40 minutes, raising concerns about his handling of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack and his stance on antisemitism. According to Mass Live, Ono defended his record, stating, "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, led a particularly aggressive line of questioning on DEI and race-based admissions. As reported by Mass Live, Renner cited a binder of past statements and articles and repeatedly pressed Ono on the timeline of his remarks. At one point, Renner interrupted Ono's clarification, saying, "I appreciate the answer, but I didn't ask about DEI." Concerns over fairness and political pressure Several board members raised concerns about the fairness of the process. As quoted by Mass Live, Charles Lydecker, a BOG member and part of UF's presidential search committee, said, "We have never used this as a forum to interrogate… candidly, this process does not feel fair to me." Board Chair Brian Lamb also acknowledged that it would have been more appropriate for Ono to receive the documents Renner referenced in advance. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, while not publicly opposing Ono, has long been critical of DEI initiatives in public institutions. In 2023, he signed legislation banning such programs from Florida's public colleges. On May 29, 2025, he said during a press event that some of Ono's previous statements made him "cringe," but that the final decision was left to the BOG, most of whom were his appointees. A costly leadership setback Dr. Ono had been expected to sign a five-year contract with a base salary of $1.5 million annually, with bonuses potentially bringing the total to $15 million. This would have made him one of the highest-paid public university presidents in the country. Mori Hosseini, chair of UF's Board of Trustees, expressed disappointment during the hearing. As quoted by Mass Live, he called the questioning "heartbreaking" and noted, "You all decided today is the day we're going to take somebody down." He also revealed that Paul Renner had previously inquired about the UF presidency before joining the BOG in April 2025. Renner acknowledged this but claimed he would not have accepted the position. What's next for UF and US academia With Ono's rejection, UF must begin its search for a new president from scratch. It remains unclear whether other candidates from the original process will be reconsidered. The incident has sparked debate nationwide about the politicization of higher education and the growing tension between university autonomy and state oversight. The ramifications of this historic rejection are expected to be felt beyond Florida, as universities across the US watch closely how political influence is reshaping public education leadership.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
FAMU names presidential finalists, ‘clouds hanging over' the search
The eternal flame burns at the center of the Florida A&M campus with Lee Hall in the background. (Photo by Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix) FAMU has named four finalists for president, with a final vote scheduled next month. How the search committee developed its list is under question, however, with some trustees saying there are 'clouds hanging' over the process. Under Florida law, presidential search committees, comprising university trustees, stakeholders, and a university system Board of Governors (BOG) member, work on a confidential search before presenting a list of finalists to the public and trustees. FAMU trustees questioned Thursday whether to investigate the legality of the search so far. 'Certainly, there may be a rumor mill,' FAMU Board of Trustees Chair Kristin Harper said during a virtual meeting Thursday, adding the board has an obligation to address those rumors. FAMU released its list of finalists Tuesday. the Tallahassee Democrat published the names on Monday. Harper questioned how the names of finalists were released to the newspaper before the university formally announced them, considering the nondisclosure agreement signed by the members of the committee. Harper called it 'grossly unfair' that the names were released before the university announced them. The list has four finalists, including University of Maryland Eastern Shore Provost Rondall Allen, University of Central Florida VP for Administration and Finance Gerald Hector, FAMU Chief Operating Officer Donald Palm, and former Florida Board of Education Chair Marva Johnson. The Democrat reported: 'There has been wide speculation that [search committee chair Deveron] Gibbons insisted on adding Johnson' to an already existing list of three finalists. The Board of Governors is requesting information related to the search, according to FAMU trustees, although that request is not part of a formal investigation and does not pause the search, they said. The Phoenix did not receive a response to a Thursday request for comment from the BOG. The scope of the BOG request for information was unknown Thursday. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Trustees debated whether it would be proper for FAMU to conduct its own investigation and pause the search before final interviews and a vote is taken during the week of May 12. 'There are too many clouds hanging over this process,' trustee Earnie Ellison said. He served on the Florida Atlantic University Board of Trustees when that university suspended a presidential search due to ethics concerns. 'We are not just potted plants,' FAMU Trustee Belvin Perry Jr., a former judge, said, adding that the board has its own fiduciary duty. Gibbons insisted FAMU 'has conducted a transparent, inclusive process.' 'This is almost laughable. We have run a very clean process,' Gibbons said, objecting to a pause on the search. 'We are being reactionary to a group of people who are hurling around rumors and innuendo,' Gibbons said, decrying a 'witch-hunt.' Eight trustees voted against pausing the search to hire an independent consultant to investigate the process, while five supported doing so. From outside the process, Leon County Commissioner Bill Proctor, a political science instructor at FAMU, has called one finalist 'weak' but did not specify which one, the Democrat reported. Proctor said 'the public now believes the process of a search is a farce,' and called on trustees to 'peer through the haze of this Hanky Panky Express and restart the search process.' The search began after former President Larry Robinson stepped down after announcing a $237 million gift that was later found to be fraudulent. While lawmakers at the Capitol struggle to reach an agreement on a state budget, Trustee Kelvin Lawson said FAMU is 'on thin ice' as lawmakers decide how much money the school will receive next fiscal year. 'I don't think we have enough facts or precedent to stop or slow this process,' Lawson said. Presidential searches have been a major topic of discussion in the Florida Capitol this session, with the House passing a bill with broad support that would eliminate the confidentiality of presidential searches and end BOG involvement. Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has worked to install political allies as presidents of public universities, said he will veto the bill if it gets to his desk. Johnson was appointed to the Florida Board of Education by former Gov. Rick Scott and was appointed by DeSantis to serve on the Florida Scholar's Academy Board of Trustees. That's an education program for juvenile offenders. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
