When you end a relationship, you start a mental checklist of what not to look for in your next one. Your ex had red hair, so suddenly, all gingers are off the table. He was really into reading, so bookstores are a no.
In much the same fashion, after UF “broke up” with former President Ben Sasse, a de facto checklist was collectively made.
Two of Sasse’s shortcomings formulated the search for our 14th president.
Sasse was a former Republican senator who hired eight of his colleagues from Washington, so our new president would have to be as apolitical as possible. He also lost UF’s ranking as America’s fifth-best public university in the U.S. News & World Report, so we would need a president who valued national rankings.
It seemed we found our ideal lover in Santa Ono, former president of the University of Michigan. Ono fits our image of an apolitical leader. In an Inside Higher Ed article, Ono referenced his prior experiences to not “politicize the institutions or publicly oppose national political figures,” claiming “universities must serve as platforms for learning, not partisanship or ideological activism.”
When the Board of Governors voted on his confirmation June 3, 2025, Ono promised to implement an institutional neutrality policy that kept his personal views separate from his presidency. This was the kind of thing UF faculty and students dreamed of: apolitical leadership.
Moreover, Michigan has consistently been considered a top public university. And Ono’s experience in higher education extends beyond his presidency at Michigan, as he was previously president of the University of Cincinnati and then of the University of British Columbia.
Ono is a tried and true academic who has experience leading some of the top universities in the world; his insight would be critical in reclaiming UF’s top 5 ranking.
On May 27, 2025, the UF Board of Trustees unanimously approved Ono to be the 14th president of UF. A significant factor for his success until then was Mori Hosseini, chair of the UF Board of Trustees and a major donor to Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Hosseini made great efforts to “conservatize” and appeal Ono to the Board of Governors — all of whom were appointed by DeSantis. Ono also played an active role in this “conservatization” by incessantly praising the Hamilton School, referencing his elimination of DEI offices at Michigan and “pledg[ing] loyalty to Florida values.”
In his Inside Higher Ed article, Ono cited what he perceived to be an alignment between the UF Board of Trustees, Board of Governors and Florida Legislature as something he was excited to foster.
Ironically, these cited bodies were anything but aligned. The Board of Governors’ meeting was an utter disaster. Ono was criticized for believing in “climate extremism” and “gender politics,” and he was questioned if he believed “there should be an absence of whiteness in the university system.”
The Board of Governors voted 10 to 6 against Ono on June 3. Since its creation in 2003, the largely governor-appointed board has never rejected a Florida university’s presidential selection. To many, Ono represented the “woke agenda,” and his appointment to Florida’s flagship university would be too dangerous.
Ono’s rejection prophesies a scary future. The man who had removed DEI offices and initiatives from Michigan and had pro-Palestine protestors arrested was still too “woke” for Florida’s most coveted university position.
So, the question is, if Ono was too “woke,” who wouldn’t be? Our dating criteria may only be half met, or even not met at all. Unfortunately, it seems very unlikely our future president will be apolitical. Our sights may return to Washington for another GOP official looking to leave the world of politics. Or, why look that far, when Tallahassee is close enough?
DeSantis is term-limited in Tallahassee. The 47-year-old Republican has not strayed from getting involved in Florida’s higher education. In 2023, he transformed New College of Florida into his paradise of conservative academia. In 2025, he took multiple trips to UF, where he praised the Hamilton School and Interim President Dr. Donald Landry’s success.
In 2024, DeSantis discovered his appeal to Florida voters did not translate nationwide, as his presidential campaign didn’t survive President Donald Trump’s bullying. The only possible job left for DeSantis would be to take the helm of Florida’s flagship university, a job historically awarding a lucrative salary and great influence over the university.
The future is scary. Ono fit all our criteria, yet he was still too “woke” for the Board of Governors. Our future president will likely have to have a squeaky clean record — and by that, I mean it will have no blotches of “wokeness.” The UF Board of Trustees wants an apolitical leader experienced in leading top public universities. The Board of Governors, however, seems to want something different: a conservative.
The priorities are clear. It doesn’t matter if the next president has any experience leading a university as large as ours. As long as he isn’t “woke” and as long as he is conservative, he will be good enough. The Gators’ hat may soon be replaced by a MAGA one.
Contact Timothy Dillehay at tdillehay@alligator.org. Follow him on X @timothydilleh.
Timothy Dillehay is a political science and history sophomore and a Spring 2026 Opinions Columnist for The Alligator. He writes on issues related to university administration and student government. In his free time, Timothy enjoys journaling, reading comics and classics, and reviewing films on his Letterboxd.
