Ron DeSantis sidesteps Santa Ono rejection in education victory lap speech

Gov. Ron DeSantis says “the best is yet to come” when it comes to education in Florida. But in his first comments since the Board of Governors (BOG) rejected Santa Ono’s bid to be President of the University of Florida, DeSantis notably declined to touch on the topic.

During a nearly 20-minute speech at the Florida Education Commissioner’s Summit, DeSantis didn’t mention the pyrotechnics at the meeting the day before, which saw key supporter and UF Trustee Mori Hosseini accusing the BOG of trying to “take down” the former University of Michigan President.

For weeks, the Governor had stayed above the fray publicly, saying that while some of Ono’s comments made him “cringe,” that ultimately the Trustees picked the nominee and the BOG had final say.

Instead of offering clarity after Tuesday’s action, the Governor gave a shopworn speech full of the greatest hits: condemnations of “DEI” as “discrimination, exclusion and indoctrination,” along with attacks on “zombie studies” and the “accreditation cartel.”

He also praised recently minted Presidents and political insiders Jeanette Nuñez of Florida International University and Marva Johnson of FAMU.

But overall, the remarks were an affirmation of the Florida model, which DeSantis painted as transformative well beyond the state’s borders.

“People look to Florida for leadership on this issue of higher education. Even some of these national publications have written about how the (Donald) Trump administration’s view is similar and is trying to build off what Florida’s done at the state level,” DeSantis said.

“So you’re the industry leader, we’ve done a lot, we’ve accomplished a lot, we’ve set a good course, but we’ve got to solidify that course, and we’ve got to build out the success. And I know you’ve got folks up here that are committed to doing that, as well as the folks in the audience.”

While DeSantis didn’t comment on Ono, who spent much of Tuesday explaining why he shifted to the ideological right around the time he was seriously considered for a job in Florida, former colleagues at the University of Michigan called his abrupt rejection “karma.”

“Play stupid games, win stupid prizes,” posted the Graduate Employees’ Organization to X.