As co-presidents of the graduate assistants’ union at the University of Florida, we felt we needed to take a stance on Dr. Santa J. Ono.
Graduate Assistants United led the opposition against Ben Sasse, and after the University of Michigan’s handling of a graduate student negotiation, we weren’t going to stay silent.
After conversations with other student leaders and a deep familiarity with right-wing politics, our union determined Ono was likely the best option we would get from a Board of Trustees buried in Gov. Ron DeSantis’ pocket.
I attended the open student forum calmly and peacefully with a smile on my face, giving a positive interview to a reporter afterward. In “cautious optimism,” mostly for the sake of politics, Graduate Assistants United was prepared to play nice.
Unfortunately, the Board of Governors rejected the president-elect.
Ono became an example of how bending politically can result in being handsomely rewarded with a $3 million paycheck. Instead, the board decided to send an entirely different message to anyone involved in the University of Florida.
Their message: They do not care about the success of the university, and they do not care about the candidates’ qualifications. They only care about how candidates are ranked according to Donald Trump, DeSantis and any other conservative with enough money to buy their allegiance.
With this vote, months of searching for a president to lead this flagship university have been wasted. We are in the same spot we were three years ago, except with even more of our administration having the word “interim” in front of their positions.
If the U.S. News and World Report ranked universities on wasted funds and dysfunction, maybe the board would care, and maybe we’d have a better ranking.
As it stands, the next presidential candidate will most certainly be worse. Who would want to apply for a position that just left their last hire high and dry? What kind of academically focused person would bother playing these games? The next candidate might even make Ben Sasse look like a fiscally responsible saint in comparison.
Let this serve as an official notice for anyone thinking that selling your morals pays well in 2025 — think again.
You will not be rewarded, and you will not be well received. Graduate Assistants United has stood as a testament to improving campus life and the standard of living for graduate assistants for over 50 years, and we are not allowing our members or any other member of the UF community to be victims in the political games run by DeSantis and the Board of Governors.
As Karl Popper stated, "If we want a tolerant society, we must be intolerant of intolerance." The board has clearly stated they are intolerant of any ideas differing from their own, and their ideal university is one that is easily controlled. We reject this idea and will continue to serve as the spine so tragically missing from our recent university presidents.
We need each and every member of our union and our community to speak up, speak out and speak loudly against this and every other self-destructive action taken by the state to hurt its own flagship university.
So, to the Board of Governors, we leave you with this: Graduate Assistants United will be here long after your terms are up.
We will raise thousands of graduate assistants to think freely, think collectively, fight for a better life and stamp out hatred in all forms.
That is our legacy, now, tomorrow and forever. We are UF, and we will do anything and everything to preserve the dignity of our members and our university.
So next time you choose a president, maybe run it by us first?
Cassandra Urbenz is the co-president of Graduate Assistants United. Austin Britton heavily contributed to this column.
