Dr. Santa Ono rejected as next President of UF

Former DEI advocate rejected to lead University of Florida

The Florida Board of Governors on Tuesday voted 10-6 to reject Dr. Santa Ono’s appointment as the University of Florida’s next president, halting a nomination that had advanced with unanimous support from the university’s Board of Trustees.

Dr. Santa Ono, the former president at the University of Michigan, was rejected Tuesday as the next president at the University of Florida amid backlash from Republicans over his earlier support of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Tuesday's decision by the 17-member Board of Governors comes one week after UF's Board of Trustees unanimously approved Ono as the finalist.

Ono was on track to become one of the highest paid public university presidents in the country. He was due to sign a five-year contract with a base salary of $1.5 million and incentives to earn as much as $15 million over the life of the deal.

The vote followed nearly three hours of questioning focused on Ono’s past support for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and his handling of campus protests, despite his assurances that such programs would not return to UF under his leadership.

The university will now restart its presidential search, which began after Ben Sasse stepped down last year.

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