Florida board blocks Ono from UF presidency in historic decision
Florida board blocks Ono from UF presidency in historic decision

Florida board blocks Ono from UF presidency in historic decision

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Diverging Reports Breakdown

Evening Briefing Central Florida June 3 2025

Several rounds of showers and storms will spawn on Wednesday. Highs will be on the cooler side, in the low to mid 80s due to the widespread clouds. Shakira comes to Orlando on her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour. Summer Family Art Workshops are Tuesday, June 4 at the Art & History Museums of Maitland. The Florida Board of Governors reject Santa Ono as the next president of UF. The wife and five children of a man accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at demonstrators in Boulder are being taken into custody. The family of man charged in Colorado attack is being held in federal custody, officials say. The U.S. job openings rose unexpectedly in April, a sign labor market remains resilient.

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Good evening, Central Florida. We’re wrapping up the day for you with the most important stories you need to know and your weather outlook.

Your Weather Planner

Several rounds of showers and storms will spawn on Wednesday.

While some locations could pick up in excess of 2 to 3 inches of rainfall on Wednesday, most locations should see between half an inch to one inch of rainfall.

Highs will be on the cooler side, in the low to mid 80s due to the widespread clouds.

Highs: Low to Mid 80s Lows: Low 70s Rain Coverage: 60%

Check your hour-by-hour forecast here | Share your weather photos

Today’s Big Stories

1. Florida Board of Governors reject Santa Ono as the next president of UF

The decision comes as some state leaders, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, had concerns about Ono taking the helm at Florida’s flagship university.

2. Trump pushes a July 4 deadline for big tax bill as senators dig in

Trump met with Senate Majority Leader John Thune at the White House early this week and has been dialing senators for one-on-one chats.

3. U.S. job openings rose unexpectedly in April, a sign labor market remains resilient

Economists had expected opening to drift down to 7.1 million.

4. U.S. immigration authorities detain family of man charged in Colorado attack

Federal officials say the wife and five children of a man accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at demonstrators in Boulder are being taken into custody.

5. Orange County commissioners to make final decision on rezoning for Hope City Refuge

A zoning change could help place hundreds of unhoused individuals in emergency and temporary housing.

6. Disney reveals details on new ‘Cars’-themed Piston Peak National Park

Set in the “Cars” universe, Piston Peak will build on the story of Frontierland at Magic Kingdom, officials said.

Things to Do

Summer Family Art Workshops | Tuesday, June 4 | 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. | During free hands-on arts and crafts workshops at the Art & History Museums of Maitland, families can drop-in and create a new art project every week at their own pace.

| Tuesday, June 4 | 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. | During free hands-on arts and crafts workshops at the Art & History Museums of Maitland, families can drop-in and create a new art project every week at their own pace.

Shakira at Camping World Stadium | Tuesday, June 4 | 7:30 p.m. | Shakira comes to Orlando on her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour.

| Tuesday, June 4 | 7:30 p.m. | Shakira comes to Orlando on her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour.

Orlando’s Luminary Market and KaleidoScope 360° Movie Night | Tuesday, June 4 | 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. | This monthly market, hosted the first Wednesday of each month, showcases between 20 to 25 unique vendors, featuring local favorites and curated goods, all designed to celebrate and support the growing Creative Village community of residents, students and workers.

Source: Baynews9.com | View original article

Ono blocked as University of Florida’s next president by state board

Florida’s highest university board votes to block Santa Ono as its next president. It is the first time in the Board of Governors’ 20-year history that members have overturned a university’s presidential selection. Ono and UF Board of Trustees chairperson Mori Hosseini left the meeting through a side door, escorted by police. The downvote sends UF back to the drawing board on picking a qualified leader, a former faculty representative on the board says. The vote came after a monthlong campaign by conservative politicians and activists who opposed Ono’s prior stances on diversity, equity and inclusion at the University of Michigan, and his handling of pro-Palestine protests in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel. The board’s 10-6 vote, with one member absent, sends the UF president’s selection back to UF’s board of trustees. The UF board is expected to vote on a successor to Ono in the coming weeks..

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ORLANDO — Florida’s highest university board voted Tuesday to block the University of Florida from selecting Santa Ono as its next president.

It is the first time in the Board of Governors’ 20-year history that members have overturned a university’s presidential selection.

The 10-6 vote, with one member absent, came after a monthlong campaign by conservative politicians and activists who opposed Ono’s prior stances on diversity, equity and inclusion at the University of Michigan, and his handling of pro-Palestine protests in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

Ono and UF Board of Trustees chairperson Mori Hosseini quickly left the meeting through a side door, escorted by police. When approached by reporters, Hosseini declined to take questions. Ono didn’t look back.

The downvote sends UF back to the drawing board on picking a qualified leader — which will be much more difficult now, said Amanda Phalin, a former faculty representative on the board.

“It’s an absolute embarrassment,” Phalin said. “The political questions that were being asked portends more politics in the process and less focus on academics.”

In a letter sent to board members Monday, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott accused Ono of “failing to uphold the most basic standards of leadership” by allowing an encampment set up by student protestors to stand for nearly a month while president at Michigan.

Scott was the latest to voice his opposition, joining former Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, who’s now in Congress; Donald Trump Jr.; and U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, a candidate in next year’s governor’s race.

More than a dozen members of the public — including UF trustee Rahul Patel, who led the search — spoke during the meeting, many on Ono’s record combating antisemitism at Michigan.

Board member Alan Levine focused on Ono’s delayed response to removing pro-Palestine protestors from Michigan’s campus, allowing an encampment for nearly a month.

Ono said the school took a measured approach to the encampment to avoid the kind of violence that occurred at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner during the meeting presented Ono with a binder filled with news clippings and prior public statements — many of which he posted on social media — and grilled Ono on the timeline of his evolving opinions on diversity and inclusion initiatives, pointing to comments that appeared to support those programs long after the school disbanded them.

Ono faltered on several questions, arguing that he had not received the materials in advance and could not recall some key details.

Ono made pains to walk back some prior statements, saying that his views have evolved and he now believes Florida’s policies prohibiting diversity initiatives is the correct path.

Board member Eric Silagy pointed to a 2010 regulation passed by the board that required programs to promote diversity, equity and inclusion, also known as DEI. For more than a decade, Florida required universities to create reports on the progress toward those goals until the regulation was struck down in 2023.

“Michigan put DEI in place in 2016. Well, Florida actually put it in in 2010,” Silagy said. Since then, “clearly Florida has evolved.”

“This evolution is happening across the whole continent,” Ono responded.

Board member Charles Lydecker said that no candidate for a university president’s job had ever been interrogated in such a manner.

“This process does not feel fair to me,” he said.

At one point in the meeting, Silagy asked Hosseini whether any sitting board of governors members had expressed interest in the president’s role.

Hosseini said Renner had approached him prior to Ono’s selection, causing a momentary uproar. Renner responded that he had been asked by a UF trustee to speak with Hosseini and that the conversation occurred before he was appointed to the board of governors. He further promised that if there is a vacancy for the president’s role, he would not seek it.

Supporters have framed Ono as a well-respected researcher and academic leader who is best positioned to keep pushing UF’s rising national prominence.

UF trustee Fred Ridley noted the trustees unanimously elected Ono as president, praising his kindness and thoughtfulness.

“I would just ask you to look past all the noise, listen to him today, and do what’s right for the University of Florida,” he said.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, who had generally stayed out of the debate, had told board members to “vote their conscience,” according to board member Ashley Bell Barnett.

In a statement, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a UF alumnus, said the vote “begs the question: what top tier academic leader will subject themselves to the far-right fanatics running Tallahassee? UF is vying to be the nation’s top public research university. Installing right-wing, unqualified partisans at the helm will only delay or derail that ascent.”

Times staff writer Divya Kumar contributed to this report.

Source: Tampabay.com | View original article

Florida Board of Governors vote to block Santa Ono as next UF president

The Florida Board of Governors voted to turn down Florida’s hiring of former Michigan president Santa Ono. Ono had been voted on unanimously for appointment at Florida by the Board of Trustees one week ago. The Michigan administrator had been identified as the sole finalist in Florida’s process by the Presidential Search Advisory Committee. The search for a new university president, which had honed in solely on Ono, will now have to resume, according to a report from Politico.

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The Florida Board of Governors has voted to turn down Florida‘s hiring of former Michigan president Santa Ono, according to a report from Politico reporter Gary Fineout. The move comes after a contentious process.

According to the Miami Herald’s Garrett Shanley, the Board of Governors voted 10-6 against Ono as the next Florida president. Florida’s search for a new university president, which had honed in solely on Ono, will now have to resume.

Santa Ono had been voted on unanimously for appointment at Florida by the University of Florida Board of Trustees. That vote happened one week ago.

The Michigan administrator had been identified as the sole finalist in Florida’s process by the Presidential Search Advisory Committee. His appointment, though, was clearly not a foregone conclusion.

Fineout provided some additional context on the decision Tuesday, which came amid a contentious backdrop. Among those who voted no were education commissioner Manny Diaz, as well as former House speakers Paul Renner and Jose Oliva.

Others who supported Santa Ono’s appointment as Florida president were University of Florida Board of Trustees chair Mori Hosseini, a developer and mega-donor. According to Fineout, Hosseini and the other backers of Ono “viewed the luring of the UM president to UF as a sign of the school’s rising prominence.”

Florida’s presidential opening came about after Ben Sasse stepped down from the post in July 2024, citing his wife’s health. His tenure lasted less than two years.

In the interim, former Florida president Kent Fuchs stepped in to fill the void. He was confident at the time that the powers that be would find a capable replacement.

“I do think our board is good at listening,” Fuchs stated, according to WCJB. “They have to listen there are influential people out there donors and others who will feel strongly about who should be the next president or what kind of president and our trustees are pretty good at listening taking that into account but not being overly persuaded… I’m optimistic they’ll find somebody great.”

Source: On3.com | View original article

Santa Ono rejected for University of Florida presidency amid conservative backlash

Ono’s proposed contract included a number of ideological requirements, such as how well he stopped programs that focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. Ono is also the former president of the University of British Columbia and the. University of Cincinnati. He was to replace Kent Fuchs, who became the school’s temporary, interim president last summer after ex-U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse stepped down. Sasse announced in July he was leaving the job after his wife was diagnosed with epilepsy. The University of Florida Board of Governors voted Tuesday to hire Santa Ono as its new president, a position he will hold until 2023. The board’s decision was announced after several prominent conservatives raised questions about Ono before the vote over pro-Palestinian protests, climate change efforts and gender ideology.

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Ono’s proposed contract included a number of ideological requirements, such as how well he stopped programs that focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI. He was to cooperate with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Office of Government Efficiency — similar to the office created by President Donald Trump — and appoint other university officials and deans who are “firmly aligned” with Florida’s approach.

Several prominent conservatives raised questions about Ono before the vote over pro-Palestinian protests, climate change efforts, gender ideology and DEI programs at the University of Michigan and his previous academic positions.

These actions, Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida said on the X social platform, show “he is willing to appease and prioritize far-left activists over ensuring students are protected and receive a quality education.” Others raising objections include Donald Trump Jr. and Florida GOP U.S. Reps. Byron Donalds, Greg Steube and Jimmy Patronis. Donalds is a Republican candidate for governor.

Writing in Inside Higher Ed, Ono said he supported DEI initiatives at first because they aim was “equal opportunity and fairness for every student.”

“But over time, I saw how DEI became something else — more about ideology, division and bureaucracy, not student success,” Ono wrote, adding that he eventually limited DEI offices at Michigan. “I believe in Florida’s vision for higher education.”

DeSantis, a Republican who has pushed reforms in higher education to eliminate what he calls “woke” policies such as DEI, did not take a public stand on Ono but did say at a recent news conference that some of his statements made the governor “cringe.”

Ono faced similar pointed questions at Tuesday’s meeting — especially from former Republican state House speakers Paul Renner and Jose Oliva — leading board member Charles Lydecker to object to the procedure.

“We have never used this as a forum to interrogate. This is not a court of law. Candidly, this process does not seem fair to me,” Lydecker said.

Oliva, however, questioned how to square Ono’s many past statements about hot-button cultural issues with his more conservative stance now that he sought the Florida job.

“Now we are told to believe you are now abandoning an entire ideological architecture,” Oliva said. “We are asking someone to lead our flagship university. I don’t understand how it becomes unfair.”

Steube, writing on X, praised the board for its decision.

“Great news for my alma mater and the state of Florida! The Board of Governors heard us loud and clear: Santa Ono was the wrong choice for UF,” the congressman said.

Ono was to replace Kent Fuchs, who became the school’s temporary, interim president last summer after ex-U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse stepped down. Sasse left the U.S. Senate, where he had represented Nebraska, to become the university’s president in 2023.

Sasse announced in July he was leaving the job after his wife was diagnosed with epilepsy.

Later reports surfaced that Sasse gave six former staffers and two former Republican officials jobs with salaries that outstripped comparable positions and spent over $1.3 million on private catering for lavish dinners, football tailgates and extravagant social functions in his first year on the job.

Ono is also the former president of the University of British Columbia and the University of Cincinnati.

Credit: AP Credit: AP

Credit: AP Credit: AP

Credit: AP Credit: AP

Source: Ajc.com | View original article

Florida leaders hail vote to block Ono from UF: ‘The right decision’

The Board of Governors blocked Santa Ono from becoming the next president of the University of Florida. The board cited concerns over Ono’s past statements on diversity, equity, antisemitism and other cultural issues. Some state leaders and education figures applauded the vote on social media. U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a UF alumnus, said the university will have its work cut out for it in attracting top candidates for the top job in Tallahassee. “Woke has NO place in our university system,” a prominent conservative voice on education said on Twitter. � “I trust @UF will bring back the best and brightest to lead theUniversity of Florida,’” said a former congressman who is running to become Florida’s next governor. ‘No AMNESTY for the ARCHITECTS of the DEI REVOLUTION,’ said a trustee at New College of Florida who pledged “NO AMNesty for the far-right fanatics’

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The board that governs Florida’s higher education system delivered a stunning rebuke to the state’s flagship college on Tuesday, blocking Santa Ono from becoming the next president of the University of Florida.

Citing concerns over Ono’s past statements on diversity, equity, antisemitism and other cultural issues, the board cast aside the former University of Michigan president by a 10-6 vote, with one member absent.

Some state leaders and education figures who had called for the Board of Governors to block Ono applauded the vote on social media.

“This is the right decision for @UF,” Sen. Rick Scott posted on X, a day after raising significant concerns about Ono’s candidacy. “UF’s students, faculty, and staff deserve a president who will stand for Florida values and against antisemitism.”

This is the right decision for @UF. UF’s students, faculty, and staff deserve a president who will stand for Florida values and against antisemitism. https://t.co/DrO1xEYlAr — Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) June 3, 2025

Christopher Rufo, a prominent conservative voice on education and a trustee at New College of Florida, saluted the board’s “act of courage,” and pledged “NO AMNESTY FOR THE ARCHITECTS OF THE DEI REVOLUTION.”

“There needs to be a real shakeup at the University of Florida board of trustees, which voted unanimously in favor of a man who promoted gender pronouns, land acknowledgements, two-spirit insanity, DEI 2.0, critical race theory, and child sex-change procedures,” Rufo wrote.

There needs to be a real shakeup at the University of Florida board of trustees, which voted unanimously in favor of a man who promoted gender pronouns, land acknowledgements, two-spirit insanity, DEI 2.0, critical race theory, and child sex-change procedures. — Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) June 3, 2025

U.S. Rep. Jimmy Patronis called the often contentious Board of Governors meeting “incredibly difficult,” but said it was necessary.

“Today’s vote was tough, but I’m happy to see the system work,” he posted. “I trust @UF will bring back the best and brightest to lead the University of Florida.”

Thanks to @sus_florida for an incredibly difficult meeting. Today’s vote was tough, but I’m happy to see the system work. I trust @UF will bring back the best and brightest to lead the University of Florida. #FlaPol https://t.co/M2kNOXITux — Jimmy Patronis (@PatronisFL) June 3, 2025

Former U.S. Rep. Byron Daniels, who is running to become Florida’s next governor, was another politician who spoke out against Ono.

“I give credit to the Florida Board of Governors for standing up for Florida’s conservative values,” he wrote. “Woke has NO place in our university system. It’s time to restart the presidential search at @UF and find a more qualified candidate to lead our flagship university forward.”

I give credit to the Florida Board of Governors for standing up for Florida’s conservative values. Thank you to @ScottforFlorida, @JimmyPatronis, and @gregsteube for your leadership.

Woke has NO place in our university system. It’s time to restart the presidential search at @UF… — Byron Donalds (@ByronDonalds) June 3, 2025

And state Rep. Brad Yeager, R-New Port Richey, said the Board of Governors “fixed a big mistake and stopped wokeness from leading one of our top Universities!”

Great job today by the @SUS_Florida Board of Governors to deny Ono from becoming next UF President! They fixed a big mistake and stopped wokeness from leading one of our top Universities! #GoGators — Brad Yeager (@byeager76) June 3, 2025

On the other end of the spectrum, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a UF alumnus, said the university will have its work cut out for it in attracting top candidates following Tuesday’s decision.

“Today’s vote begs the question: what top tier academic leader will subject themselves to the far-right fanatics running Tallahassee?” she said in a statement. “UF is vying to be the nation’s top public research university. Installing right-wing, unqualified partisans at the helm will only delay or derail that ascent.”

Times staff writers Divya Kumar and Jeffrey S. Solochek contributed to this report.

Source: Tampabay.com | View original article

Source: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2025/06/03/santa-ono-rejected-president-university-of-florida-university-of-michigan/84017745007/

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