Ono told trustees he embraced DEI upon his appointment at Michigan, but during a review of programs in the summer of 2023, he had a change of heart.
Former University of Michigan President Santa Ono is one step closer to leading Florida’s flagship university.
The University of Florida Board of Trustees on Monday voted unanimously in favor of Ono’s appointment. Chairman Mori Hosseini said the university system’s Board of Governors is expected to conduct the final vote on this matter next week, but a date was not specified.
During a series of questions on Tuesday ahead of the vote, trustees asked Ono for a timeline pinpointing when he discontinued his DEI programs in the Wolverine State as it related to his application to head their university.
Ono, the sole finalist for the position, previously led the University of Michigan’s DEI 2.0 plan, which mandated diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives like diversity training, affinity groups by race and gender, and ideological indoctrination across most of the school’s programs, before ending it in compliance with President Donald Trump’s executive order, which determined that DEI programs are decriminatory.
Ono also pushed curriculum changes to foster equitable outcomes by race, according to The Epoch Times’ review of DEI 2.0 before it was removed from the university’s website.
The University of Florida ended its DEI programs last year, months before Trump’s executive order to end federal funding of colleges and universities that continue such programs, which the Trump administration said violate the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Ono told trustees he embraced DEI upon his appointment at Michigan, but during a review of programs in the summer of 2023, he had a change of heart. Students and faculty of different races complained about feeling left out, he said, and a financial review of DEI programs indicated a poor return on investment for at least a decade.
He said the decisions to end diversity hiring statements and sunset DEI programs were made before Trump’s election, which predated his candidacy by several months.
“Universities, at their best, are not meant to be echo chambers,” said Ono, who studied at the University of Chicago and then McGill University of Montreal before his leadership roles at various Canadian and U.S. universities.
“I did not come to bring DEI back. I came to make sure it never returns.”
Ono’s official statement regarding those steps was issued on March 27, and the DEI 2.0 page was also removed from the university website around that time.
The University of Florida’s president search was announced in December 2024.
Trustees credited Ono for ending DEI initiatives, combating campus anti-Semitism, and overseeing groundbreaking research in medicine and artificial intelligence.
“He excels in consensus-building and effortlessly inspires everyone with whom he comes into contact,” said Trustee Rahul Patel, who chaired the search committee.
Florida Reps. Byron Donalds and Greg Steube, both Republicans, posted their opposition to Ono’s appointment on social media earlier this month, voicing concerns over Ono’s record promoting DEI initiatives in higher education.
Savannah Pointer contributed to this report.