Uncertainty at UF After Ono Rejection

The University of Florida still needs a president after the Florida Board of Governors rejected the selection of sole finalist Santa Ono in a contentious 10-to-6 vote last week over ideological concerns. But how or when the university might find someone to take the reins is unclear.

What is clear is that the university might find it difficult to find an apolitical leader or a president with a more traditional academic background to lead the state’s flagship institution.

“Anyone doing their homework on Florida right now, unfortunately, is going to have to decide whether or not to take a huge career risk to be in that search,” said one search firm insider, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Ono, who stepped down from the University of Michigan presidency to pursue the UF job, faced a number of questions from the state board about his past support of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, which he largely denounced leading up to last week’s vote. Ono claimed to have had an ideological evolution in which he turned against DEI as he saw its shortcomings and embraced the conservative vision for public education driven by Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis.

But the about-face on DEI was not enough; the Board of Governors rejected Ono despite the UF’s Board of Trustees’ unanimous vote to hire him.

The search firm insider said that it’s believed to be the first time that a sole finalist has been rejected—not only in Florida, but on a national level. They think that the outcome will limit the number of sitting presidents willing to apply for the UF job, given the reputational damage that Ono suffered. Adding to the challenges facing the university, the clock is ticking to find at least an interim leader.

Interim president Kent Fuchs—who was called out of retirement to resume his old role after former Nebraska senator Ben Sasse abruptly stepped down from UF’s top job last year shortly before a spending scandal emerged—is expected to leave when his contract expires on July 31.

Uncertainty Ahead

Procedurally, the answer to what happens next is unclear. UF declined to comment and the Florida Board of Governors did not respond to a request for comment from Inside Higher Ed.

Alan Levine, a member of the Florida Board of Governors, wrote in an op-ed for Florida Politics that the presidential search does not conclude until a candidate is confirmed.

“Thus, the search for a new president for UF is neither ‘failed’ nor over,” he wrote.

But others disagree with that characterization of the search. The University of Florida was set to pay Ono nearly $3 million a year. That salary and the flagship institution’s reputation and resources should make the job an attractive opportunity for interested applicants. In fact, landing Ono was seen as a bit of coup for the college.

The search firm insider argued that given its expansive footprint, the university needs an experienced president at the helm, not someone new to higher education.

“The University of Florida deserves an outstanding president, and it is too big an enterprise to have someone with their training wheels on. It’s a major medical system; you have big-time athletics—it would be very hard for someone to be a rookie going into this job,” they said.

Others have echoed that sentiment, arguing that only politicians will apply for the job in a search do-over. If UF’s next president is a politician, that would mirror search outcomes at public institutions across the state in the last several years.

Since 2022, when Sasse was hired at UF, Florida’s public institutions have selected as college presidents multiple Republican lawmakers and others with ties to DeSantis or the GOP. Just this year alone, multiple former Republican lawmakers have been hired as college presidents, including Adam Hasner at Florida Atlantic University, former lieutenant governor Jeanette Nuñez at Florida International University and Manny Diaz at the University of West Florida (in an interim capacity). Marva Johnson, a lobbyist with ties to DeSantis and no experience working in higher education, was hired as president of Florida A&M University.

Multiple other GOP lawmakers and DeSantis allies preceded those hires in recent years.

Backlash to the Vote

While some online commenters praised the rejection of Ono, others in Florida are more worried about the message the Board of Governors’ vote sends.

“No qualified apolitical leader will ever come near our campus again with an eye on sitting in a leadership role,” wrote UF professor Michael Haller in an open letter posted on X . “By way of your insatiable appetite for political lackeys to serve as presidents of our state universities, each one of you are responsible for the ensuing brain drain that is likely to accelerate at UF.”

State lawmakers—including Republicans—have also criticized the outcome of the search.

House Speaker Daniel Perez, a Republican, told local media that the failed search was avoidable. He pointed to a recent bill passed by the Florida House that would have injected transparency into presidential searches by requiring universities to share the names of more candidates. The legislation would have also scaled back some of FLBOG’s oversight powers. (The Board of Governors also could have vetoed Ono in private during the search process.)

Although the bill overwhelmingly passed in the House, the Senate did not take it up.

“All of the deficiencies that Ono had prior to the presidential search coming to a conclusion, and eventually going before the BOG, would have been discovered,” Perez said, according to The Florida Phoenix. “It was not discovered because no one knew that Ono was the one that was going to be nominated, unanimously approved, and sent to the [Florida Board of Governors].”

And some of the more vocal critics of the rejection came from the UF board members.

“You all decided today is the day you’re going to take somebody down,” board chair Mori Hosseini told the state board at last week’s meeting.

A UF Board of Trustees meeting on Thursday, two days after the Ono vote, yielded no insights on where the search goes from here. However, trustees made it clear in that meeting and subsequent statements that they stand by the search and the selection of Ono as finalist.

“The Board of Governors [sic] failure to confirm Dr. Ono is deeply disappointing to our Board of Trustees,” Hosseini wrote in a Friday email to the campus community.

Hosseini, a real estate developer who has donated heavily to DeSantis and various conservative causes, has been on UF’s board since 2016 and chair since 2018. But his Friday email prompted questions about how long he will stick around on the board after the Ono vote.

“Let me be clear: this moment, while disappointing to our Board of Trustees and many of you, will not diminish the University of Florida’s momentum, with or without Mori Hosseini,” he wrote.

Hosseini isn’t the only UF trustee who appears to be at odds with the Florida Board of Governors.

The Orlando Sentinel reported that after last week’s decision by the FLBOG, Levine, who voted against Ono, approached UF trustee Patrick Zalupski for a handshake. Zalupski reportedly rejected the handshake and told Levine, “No. You fucked up, man.”