In a historic first, the Florida Board of Governors on Tuesday blocked Dr. Santa Ono from becoming the University of Florida’s next president, caving to Trump world’s bitter criticism of his past support for diversity initiatives and allegations of antisemitism.
Ono, who resigned his post as president of the University of Michigan just hours after becoming the UF presidential finalist, quickly left the Orlando board meeting after members voted 10 to 6 for rejection.
This is the first time in the Board of Governors’ 22-year history that they’ve voted down a presidential finalist—especially one that was unanimously recommended by the university’s board of trustees.
“Ok. Ok. Alright, the motion fails,” said Board Chair Brian Lamb, who voted in favor of Ono. He paused and looked around the conference room, adding, “First time that’s really happened, so let me just react to that.”
Ono’s hearing, which dragged nearly two hours longer than scheduled, was marked by dozens of questions—likened to “interrogations” by some members—on pro-Palestine campus protests and the 62-year-old’s past support of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives during his time at the University of Michigan.
Though Ono swore his stance had changed, promising Board members that he fully supported Gov. Ron DeSantis leading the nation in stomping out DEI in higher education, both Trump world and many of the BOG didn’t believe him.
“Your recent reversal on an entire architecture of ideology is nothing short of incredible,” said José Oliva, former Florida House Speaker and potential candidate for Lieutenant Governor.
Ono served as UM president from 2022 until May 2025, when he rapidly resigned in favor of the UF job and its five-year contract worth up to $15.4 million.
Ono’s shock rejection was aided by a swell of opposition from President Donald Trump’s allies, including Donald Trump, Jr., Sen. Rick Scott, and leading gubernatorial candidate Rep. Byron Donalds.
All took to social media to rip into the candidate, accusing him of failing to protect Jewish students and inviting “woke” ideology into universities.
Though not all of the Board was against Ono. Members like Charles Lydecker and Eric Silagy criticized Oliva and former House Speaker Paul Renner—both strong DeSantis allies—for treating Ono like he was in a "court of law" and treating him in a "patently unfair" manner.
"We have never used this as a forum to interrogate," Lydecker said. The rare member spats even sparked a shock revelation that Renner, a newly-appointed BOG member, was vying for the UF presidential position. Renner, who batted away questions of whether he would recuse himself from the Ono meeting, insisted this happened before he was a BOG member.
Of note, DeSantis sidelined himself in the growing Ono debate—insisting that he trusted the BOG to make the best decision. Despite these comments, Florida Politics reported that “at least one” board member was pressured by a DeSantis staffer to vote “yes” on Ono.
“I think DeSantis had the BOG do his dirty work for him. He didn’t want to risk insulting some of his biggest donors by outright opposing Ono,” Rep. Alex Andrade, a Republican and vocal critic of the DeSantis administration, told The Floridian.
What Did Lawmakers From the ‘Gator Caucus’ Think of Ono?
Andrade, a UF alum and sponsor of the 2023 law banning DEI in universities, was the only “Gator Caucus” member of the four who spoke to The Floridian before the meeting that opposed Ono as UF president.
“I don't think you can walk back statements you made within the last year. Those are comments that fly in the face of everything we've worked on,” he said.
Other members, including Republicans Rep. J.J. Grow and Sen. Gayle Harrell, were more positive about Ono in the hours leading up to the meeting.
"He seems to be very well-qualified for the position," said Grow, a member of UF's Florida Foundation Board and the college's Food and Resource Economic Leadership Council, adding that he's "not really" concerned about the DEI firestorm surrounding the pick.
"I'm more concerned as an agricultural guy that he came from a university that wasn't a land grant university, so I just want to make sure he understands the mission of the land grant university," he said.
Harrell agreed, noting that he's "certainly qualified" given Michigan's status as an "amazing university."
Democrat Rep. Yvonne Hinson, who similarly acknowledged how "impressed" she was with Ono's resume, was upset that he "backed up off of DEI."
"But what could he do?" she added. "I mean, everyone has to.”
