University of Florida names one presidential finalist, again

The University of Florida presidential search committee proposed a single finalist to fill the vacancy left by former President Ben Sasse: University of Michigan President Santa Ono. 

Ono appeared in Gainesville Tuesday at forums for faculty, students, and administrators, where he said he was “ideologically” in line with Gov. Ron DeSantis and university trustees on diversity policy, Politico reported. 

DeSantis, who has involved himself deeply in earlier university presidential searches, particularly pushing political allies for these jobs, said Wednesday that he does not know Ono, nor was he involved in advancing the Michigan president’s candidacy. 

“There can be no ambiguity; I don’t think anybody is going to be unclear about what the expectations are in the state of Florida with respect to higher education. We reject woke indoctrination,” DeSantis said Wednesday during a roundtable discussion about property taxes in Tampa. 

DeSantis’ recent involvement include trying (unsuccessfully) to install now-U.S. Rep. Randy Fine (then a member of the Legislature) in the president’s office at Florida Atlantic University; his office reaching out to Florida International University to advocate for former Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez for interim president there; and, especially topical this week, guiding Sasse to UF, Politico reported.

He’s also paid particular attention to overhauling New College of Florida and, more recently, the University of West Florida, in favor of more conservative approaches. 

DeSantis has taken pride in placing candidates at universities, saying he was elected in-part for his vision for education. 

“We were the first state in the country to eliminate DE and I from our public universities. We’ve done more than any state to restore the mission of universities to the classical sense of what a university should be,” DeSantis said. “Those expectations are clear, and I don’t think that a candidate would have been selected who was not going to abide by those expectations.”

DeSantis said it would have unthinkable five or 10 years ago that Florida would land the president of the University of Michigan, one of the highest ranked public institutions. 

Some Florida Republicans have expressed concerns over Ono’s history. 

U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, a Republican candidate for governor, on Fox Business Tuesday evening said Ono “does not comport with the values of the state of Florida,” reacting to Ono’s past comments about Michigan’s “DEI 2.0” initiative. He said at the time that the university should “strive to nurture thoughtful and understanding citizens” and that “racism is one of America’s original sins.”

It’s “time to go back to the drawing board,” Donalds said, and called for Ono to be blocked and the search to start over. 

Despite Ono’s support for the “DEI 2.0” initiative, the university closed its DEI office under his leadership, Michigan Advance reported. Ono’s tenure saw protests over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza and accusations that administrators discriminated against pro-Palestinian activists.

Christopher Rufo, a conservative activist and trustee at New College, said on X that UF trustees should ask Ono “hard questions about his recent support for DEI and climate radicalism.” 

Rufo called Ono “a left-wing administrator” and said “Florida deserves better than a standard-issue college president.” Republican state Rep. Berny Jacques responded to Rufo’s post, saying, “very concerning.”

DeSantis said he would let the search play out, and “I don’t think that anyone would want to come the University of Florida if your goal was to pursue a woke agenda. You’re going to run into a brick wall here in the state of Florida.”

Sasse

Sasse was the sole finalist for the UF presidency in 2023 and his arrival on campus was met with protests. His exit was marred by reporting and, later, state audits concluding that he spent lavishly on parties and paid his former U.S. Senate staffers high salaries in remote UF jobs.

Florida law requires a shortlist of final candidates. Some people, including the co-sponsor of the law, argued UF violated the spirit of the shortlist by making the list as short as one. 

Florida law shields searches from the public. 

Rahul Patel, chair of the presidential search committee and chair of the UF Board of Trustees, advocated for confidentiality in the search. 

Patel, in an opinion column to the Tampa Bay Times Tuesday signed by all the members of the search committee, said proffering two or more finalists “makes sense.”

“But the regulations also allow flexibility in cases of exceptional circumstances where selecting multiple finalists is infeasible — and this was one of those cases.”

This search “was one of those moments” that allows “for discretion in exceptional cases,” Patel wrote. 

Patel, and opponents of the 2022 law, argue that shielding searches allows for more candidates to feel comfortable applying if their existing institution likely wouldn’t become aware they were looking to leave.

“This search attracted a broad and impressive pool of candidates from across the landscape of higher education — including, notably, multiple sitting presidents of major research universities,” Patel wrote.

“That alone is a powerful reflection of UF’s rising national stature and the appeal of this opportunity. But every one of those sitting presidents made it clear: they would only participate if the process guaranteed confidentiality and their name would not be released publicly unless they were the sole finalist.”

University presidential search laws are a major topic inside the Florida Capitol

Proposal to bring searches into the sunshine

The Florida Legislature, which concluded the non-budget portion of its regular session last week, did not change presidential search laws despite continued debates about doing so. 

Rep. Michelle Salzman and Sen. Alexis Calatayud introduced bills to bring presidential searches back into the sunshine, although after several amendments and passing the House twice, provisions related to searches never made it to the governor’s desk. DeSantis said he would veto the proposals, anyway. 

Identical when introduced, the House proposal (HB 1321) was eventually amended to prohibit the governor from communicating with search stakeholders while the Senate version (SB 1726) was amended to keep searches in the dark but would’ve required at least three finalists.

The governor, in several press conferences, railed against the proposals, particularly the House’s. House Speaker Daniel Perez pushed back against existing law, calling the secret process a “spoil system.”

Salzman did not respond to Phoenix requests for comment.