UF trustees ‘still believe in Santa’
University of Florida trustees aren’t going down without a fight.
The Florida Board of Governors last month voted against confirming Santa Ono as the University of Florida’s next president — going against a unanimous decision by UF trustees to select him for the post.
UF trustees have something to say about that. They fired off a nine-page memo July 3 to the state’s GOP leadership, primarily prominent Florida Republicans Sen. Rick Scott and Congressmen Byron Donalds and Greg Steube, who had helped torpedo Ono’s selection.
The Miami Herald, in summarizing the letter, put it this way: “The University of Florida’s Board of Trustees wants Republican lawmakers to know they still believe in Santa.”
“…UF trustees warned top GOP officials that the rejection of Santa J. Ono as the president of Florida’s flagship university squandered the opportunity to prove that the state’s higher education reforms are not only working, but are compelling enough to win over respected academic leaders seeking to distance themselves from progressive orthodoxies,” the Herald reported.
The board had voted to reject Ono, most recently president of the University of Michigan, in a 10-6 vote amid an onslaught of criticism over the scholar’s previous full-throated dedication to diversity, equity and inclusion, his fumbling of antisemitic protests at UMich, and his activism against fossil fuels.
UF trustees, in their memo, took issue with the antisemitism criticisms:
First, Dr. Ono clearly stated during the Board of Governors meeting that university leadership at Michigan wanted to remove the encampments immediately but prioritized doing so in a way that avoided violence — and that is exactly what they did. … Given the full scope of his actions and leadership, we believe it is unfair that this single episode — especially when portrayed in an incomplete or inaccurate light — was elevated as one of the primary reasons for opposing his candidacy. That emphasis overshadowed a much more comprehensive and compelling record of leadership and support for Jewish students that deserved full and fair consideration.
They also rebuffed concerns over Ono’s past support of DEI:
We respectfully disagree with the notion that Dr. Ono’s prior comments on DEI disqualify him. We are concerned that much of the current discourse has relied on selectively edited materials promoted by actors with their own agendas and does not reflect the totality of Dr. Ono’s record and, importantly, where he stands today. … He expressly said to our Board of Trustees and our Board of Governors, “I did not come to Florida to bring DEI back — I came to make sure it never returns.” He could not have been clearer. Dr. Ono’s philosophical shift — from supporting bureaucratic DEI frameworks to backing institutional neutrality and merit — evolved through experiences.
The Herald reports that “UF has yet to announce a succession plan for interim President Kent Fuchs whose contract ends July 31.”
MORE: After Ono fiasco, Florida GOP lawmakers demand transparency in new UF presidential search
IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: Santa Ono talks to UF officials / Courtesy of UF