An unexpected development in Florida this week as the former president of the University of Michigan lost the job he was expecting to begin this summer in the Sunshine State. The Florida University Board of Governors has voted not to approve his hiring as the University of Florida’s next president.
The regents of the University of Florida had already offered Ono the gig, and he had accepted. But the larger governing body — the Board of Governors — rejected that plan as pressure mounted from Republican lawmakers and influential voices decrying Ono as too liberal.
At the meeting on June 3, the members of the Board of Governors peppered Ono with questions about his record of support of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. DEI programs have become a target of the Republican Party under President Donald Trump. Ono halted DEI programs at U-M after Trump took office this year.
Ono told the board members this week that he stood by his decision to walk away from DEI.
"My evolution over the past 18 months or more ... has really focused on my personal experience seeing DEI programs — that were started with all good intentions — what impact they've had on campuses," said Ono.
Board members also pushed on Ono's handling of pro-Palestinian campus protests, and questioned whether he came out with enough forceful support of Israel in the days after the October 7 Hamas-led attack in 2023. Conversely, many pro-Palestinian supporters on campus and in Ann Arbor railed against Ono while president at U-M for being too supportive of Israel and for continuing university investment in Israeli businesses.
The Florida Board of Governors rejected Ono's appointment by a 10-6 vote. It's unclear what Ono will do now.
His departure from U-M came after three difficult years, in which the university was challenged on multiple fronts.
The reason and manner of Florida’s apparent rejection are also historic, and say a lot about this moment.
Jamal Watson is the editor of the online journal Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, and professor of strategic communication and public relations at Trinity Washington University. He told Stateside he wasn't surprised Ono went for the job in the Conservative-leaning state of Florida, because it allowed him to pull away from public debate over DEI and lean into one side.
"He was being hammered by both the right and the left [at U-M]. Conservatives really felt like Santa Ono wasn't doing enough. I think liberals felt he wasn't doing enough. And so I think he was caught in this type of middle ground."
Watson, who has spent a lot of time with Ono and has followed his career, said he was surprised by the news out of Florida this week.
"I thought, 'Wow, he doesn't have a job' and it's all played out very publicly," said Watson. "In some ways I felt really sad when I heard the news because he's such a lovely person to be around."
Watson said he speaks with university presidents and deans who are turned off by the political pressure put on universities and colleges right now.
"I think there's no coincidence that there are so many retirements and so many leaders who are leaving higher ed."
