{"id":2442876,"date":"2025-06-04T15:03:02","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T19:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/florida-narrowly-dodges-woke-uf-presidential-candidate\/"},"modified":"2025-06-04T15:04:29","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T19:04:29","slug":"florida-narrowly-dodges-woke-uf-presidential-candidate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/florida-narrowly-dodges-woke-uf-presidential-candidate\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Narrowly Dodges Woke UF Presidential Candidate"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fflorida-narrowly-dodges-woke-uf-presidential-candidate%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2442876&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Florida Board of Governors narrowly rejected Santa Ono as the University of Florida&#8217;s presidential candidate,with a vote of 10-6. Despite being the unanimous choice of the university&#8217;s Board of Trustees, ono&#8217;s previous support for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives raised concerns among some governors. In his speech, he claimed to support ending DEI policies at UF, but critics pointed out that he had signed a letter opposing anti-<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/campaign-2024-an-early-look-at-the-possible-republican-contenders\/\" title=\"Campaign 2024: An Early Look At The Possible Republican Contenders\">identity politics<\/a> measures prior to his candidacy. The rejection of Ono is notable given Florida&#8217;s educational reforms aimed at moving away from leftist ideologies, and it underscores the careful scrutiny the Board applies to candidates aligned with conservative values. The university will now begin another search for a new president, with confidence from Governor Ron DeSantis in the Board&#8217;s decision-making process.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=lDbSsoyje3o\">UBC equity and inclusion office\/ Youtube<\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/06\/04\/florida-narrowly-dodges-uf-president-who-dedicated-his-career-to-illegal-bigotry\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=Florida%20Narrowly%20Dodges%20UF%20President%20Who%20Dedicated%20His%20Career%20To%20Illegal%20Bigotry&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/06\/04\/florida-narrowly-dodges-uf-president-who-dedicated-his-career-to-illegal-bigotry\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=Florida%20Narrowly%20Dodges%20UF%20President%20Who%20Dedicated%20His%20Career%20To%20Illegal%20Bigotry&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/06\/04\/florida-narrowly-dodges-uf-president-who-dedicated-his-career-to-illegal-bigotry\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\" https:><\/path><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/06\/04\/florida-narrowly-dodges-uf-president-who-dedicated-his-career-to-illegal-bigotry\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=Florida%20Narrowly%20Dodges%20UF%20President%20Who%20Dedicated%20His%20Career%20To%20Illegal%20Bigotry&amp;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/06\/04\/florida-narrowly-dodges-uf-president-who-dedicated-his-career-to-illegal-bigotry\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &amp; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>The Florida Board of Governors (BOG) barely rejected the University of Florida&rsquo;s (UF) presidential candidate with a 10-6 vote during Tuesday&rsquo;s meeting. UF&rsquo;s Board of Trustees (BOT) had voted unanimously for Santa Ono, who was the only candidate they pitched to the BOG. Yet if just three BOG members switched their vote, the state where &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=5HeOY1hjh3A\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">woke goes to die<\/a>&rdquo; would&rsquo;ve hired its own woke university leader.<\/p>\n<p>In 2023 Ono listed a &ldquo;Diversity Equity Inclusion (DEI) 2.0&rdquo; as one of his presidential priorities at the University of Michigan. He also promoted an &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/inclusivehistory.umich.edu\/about\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Inclusive History Project<\/a>&rdquo; that strives to make &ldquo;&lsquo;reparations&rsquo; based on race &lsquo;in areas such as admissions, financial aid, and faculty and staff hiring, promotion, and compensation,&rsquo;&rdquo; The Federalist&rsquo;s Joy Pullmann <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/05\/27\/gop-appointed-university-of-florida-trustees-vote-on-dei-booster-for-president-today\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-26072925\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The &ldquo;woke psycho,&rdquo; as Donald Trump Jr. titled him in a May 28 post on X, most recently <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/05\/27\/gop-appointed-university-of-florida-trustees-vote-on-dei-booster-for-president-today\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">served<\/a> as of the University of Michigan (UM) from 2022 to May of this year. He had previously served as president of the University of Cincinnati (2012-2016) and president of the University of British Columbia (2016-2022).<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <span class=\"lXWUMcioww4F6GofUKPGEuIL1Dd4S2Tnb5hZsHpc0VZOhgmHJlqpkfRiv9JNV77BkX1yQDO2bC0n6jNBLzCuM9yYSYd\"><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">WTF! Have the decision makers at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/UF?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@UF<\/a> lost their minds!??? This woke psycho might be a perfect fit for a Communist school in California, but how is he even being considered for this role in Florida? <\/p>\n<p>Every single member of the Florida Board of Governors should vote against him!!! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/31E3WQdMPy\">https:\/\/t.co\/31E3WQdMPy<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DonaldJTrumpJr\/status\/1927833211851190575?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 28, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Despite Ono&rsquo;s DEI initiatives, his speech during the BOT confirmation meeting seemed to paint a different picture.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I support fully the decision to end DEI,&rdquo; Ono said, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/university-florida-presidential-pick-rejected-state-board-governors-over-past-dei-support\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">according<\/a> to Fox News. &ldquo;I&rsquo;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.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Many of UF&rsquo;s trustee members also felt convinced of his change in dedication to identity politics, according to their comments in the presidential search <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flbog.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/UF-Presidential-Search-Packet-for-BOG-5.2025-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">packet<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, while Ono was going through the hiring process, he &ldquo;signed an April 2025 letter with 665 other college presidents objecting to President Trump&rsquo;s efforts to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/university-of-florida-votes-today-on-dei-booster-for-president\/\" title=\"... Of Florida ...s Today On DEI Booster For ...\">erase identity politics bigotry<\/a> on U.S. campuses. The letter calls the equal application of federal antidiscrimination law &lsquo;unprecedented government overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education.&rsquo; After his candidacy for UF president became public, however, Ono&rsquo;s name was removed from the letter,&rdquo; Pullman <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/05\/27\/gop-appointed-university-of-florida-trustees-vote-on-dei-booster-for-president-today\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The potential next president for the country&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usnews.com\/best-colleges\/university-of-florida-1535\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">No. 7<\/a> public university was narrowly denied the position, and that should be a concern in light of Florida&rsquo;s high academic standing and the considerable efforts Gov. Ron DeSantis and others have made to guide the state&rsquo;s education system away from leftist policies.<\/p>\n<p>The Sunshine State <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flbog.edu\/2025\/05\/06\/florida-is-ranked-1-in-higher-education-for-9-years-in-a-row\/\">ranks<\/a> No. 1 in higher education for the ninth year in a row and has <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/05\/27\/gop-appointed-university-of-florida-trustees-vote-on-dei-booster-for-president-today\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">inspired<\/a> other states like Utah, Texas, and Oklahoma to adopt &ldquo;Florida&rsquo;s education reforms as a model for their own.&rdquo; In 2022, UF&nbsp;was <a href=\"https:\/\/news.ufl.edu\/2024\/10\/search-announcement\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ranked<\/a>&nbsp;as a top-five public university for the first time in its history. When Ben Sasse became president in 2023, he &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2024\/07\/18\/sasse-resigning-university-florida-00169604\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">scrapped<\/a>&nbsp;the university&rsquo;s DEI office and contracts, <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >halted pro-terrorist student encampments<\/a>, and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2022\/10\/16\/how-desantis-and-florida-republicans-are-reshaping-higher-education-00061980\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">worked<\/a>&nbsp;to forbid political indoctrination in classrooms,&rdquo; Pullman reported.<\/p>\n<p>With just three votes swinging the other direction, all that work could have been undone.<\/p>\n<p>The process for a new candidate will now start over, with the Presidential Search Committee finding another candidate to recommend to the BOT. Despite the narrow escape from the appointment of Ono, DeSantis is confident in the BOG&rsquo;s ability to choose a candidate.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;As stated previously by this office, the Governor appointed people to the Board of Governors who are conservative and aligned to use their judgment, and he had confidence in their ability to be able to discharge this responsibility,&rdquo; a DeSantis administration official told The Federalist.<\/p>\n<p>UF&rsquo;s BOT did not respond to The Federalist&rsquo;s request for comment.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Abigail Nichols is a correspondent for The Federalist. She was previously the opinion editor for the University of South Florida&#8217;s student newspaper, The Oracle. She is now working as the business manager at the University of North Florida&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/media-downplay-motives-of-alien-charged-with-attacking-jews\/\" title=\"Media Downplay Motives Of Alien Charged With Attacking Jews\">student-run media outlet<\/a>, Spinnaker Media, while obtaining a Master&#8217;s Degree in Social work.<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Abigail Nichols<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/abigailnichols\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/ben-sasse\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Ben Sasse<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/board-of-governors\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Board of Governors<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/dei\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">DEI<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/florida\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Florida<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/higher-education\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">higher education<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/identity-politics\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">identity politics<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/ron-desantis\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Ron DeSantis<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/santa-ono\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Santa Ono<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/uf\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">UF<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/university\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">university<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/woke-leaders\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Woke leaders<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/woke-university\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Woke university<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Florida Board of Governors narrowly voted 10-6 against the University of Florida&#8217;s presidential candidate during a meeting on Tuesday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3849,"featured_media":2442878,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Screenshot-2025-06-04-111947.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[5113,5894,35293,55976,36456],"class_list":["post-2442876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-florida","tag-politics","tag-presidential-candidate","tag-university-of-florida","tag-woke-culture"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Screenshot-2025-06-04-111947.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2442876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3849"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2442876"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2442876\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2442880,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2442876\/revisions\/2442880"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2442878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2442876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2442876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2442876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}