Ono out as University of Florida president in DEI controversy

In an unprecedented move, the choice of the University of Florida’s Board of Trustees to become the school’s next president has been rejected by the Board of Governors.

Santa Ono from the University of Michigan had been selected unanimously just last week as UF’s next president.

The Palm Beach Post reports the governor’s rejected Ono by a 10-6 vote while pointing out what it perceives as Ono’s inconsistent position on DEI.

Ono recently shutdown the University of Michigan’s DEI office while supporting DEI for most of his career.

“It’s an absolute embarrassment,” said Amanda Phalin, who once served on the board as a faculty representative . “The political questions that were being asked portends more politics in the process and less focus on academics,” he told the Tampa Bay Times.

The Chronicle of Higher Education reports the board spent hours grilling Ono on his position on DEI.

“I support fully, the decision to end DEI,” Ono said in his opening statement. “I’m here to ensure DEI never returns to the University of Florida. Science will lead, not ideology. I want to come to Florida, not to slow reform, but to accelerate it. Public universities exist to educate, not indoctrinate.”

His argument failed to sway the skeptical board.

“We conducted an investigation, generated a strong media narrative, and made the case that Ono was a captured left-wing ideologue who would jeopardize Florida’s reputation as the place ‘where woke goes to die.’ Our efforts succeeded,” wrote Christopher F. Rufo, a trustee at the New College of Florida.

The Japanese American had been set to receive a salary of $15 million over five years, reported the Gainesville Sun last week.