05-05-2025
Amid turmoil over protests and DEI fight, Santa Ono to depart University of Michigan presidency
University of Michigan President Santa Ono speaks at the Mackinac Policy Conference, May 30, 2024 | Anna Liz Nichols
In an announcement Sunday, Santa J. Ono, the president for the University of Michigan informed students and faculty he would be taking a new position as the president of the University of Florida, after the college's presidential search committee named Ono its sole finalist for the position.
'Serving as your president over these past three academic years has been a distinct honor. Every day, I have been inspired beyond words by the vibrancy, brilliance, and dedication of our faculty, staff, students, and alumni,' Ono said in his statement. 'I will miss the extraordinary intellectual vitality that fills our classrooms and laboratories, the sublime sounds of our musical and theatrical performances, and the roar of fans cheering on the Wolverines — or singing 'Mr. Brightside' together in joyful unity.'
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Rahul Patel, chair of the University of Florida's Presidential Search Committee, said members '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.'
In his announcement to the University of Michigan, Ono highlighted several developments under his leadership, including forging partnerships with OpenAI and Los Alamos National Laboratory to launch a $1.2B artificial intelligence research ecosystem, expanding university's Go Blue Guarantee to provide free tuition to in-state students from families earning up to $125,000 and beginning efforts to rethink the campus's physical space with the 'Campus Plan 2050.'
However Ono's two-and-a-half year tenure was not without controversy. In March the University abruptly closed its diversity, equity and inclusion office and ended its strategic plan to promote diversity following executive orders from President Donald Trump ending all DEI 'mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities' in the federal government, and forbidding federal contractors from considering 'race, color, sex, sexual preference, religion, or national origin' in employment, procurement and contracting practices.
Ono also presided over the university amid continued protests of Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, prompting policy changes from the university on how it handles protests and free speech on campus. Both students and faculty members have accused university leadership of targeting and discriminating against individuals participating in pro-Palestinian protests, while several members of university leadership have had their homes vandalized with messages in support of Palestine.
Ono began his tenure as U of M's president on Oct. 14, 2022, succeeding former President Mark Schlissel after he was removed by the University's Board of Regents following investigation into an anonymous complaint that Schlissel 'may have been involved in an inappropriate relationship with a University employee' with the board releasing more than 100 pages of email transcripts which appeared to show an improper relationship with a subordinate.
According to the University of Florida, Ono is set to visit on Tuesday for a series of public forums with students, faculty and administrators.
