In a shocking turn of events, University of Michigan President Santa Ono's bid for the top job at the University of Florida went up in flames, thanks to Florida's far-right political machine. Ono, who resigned from his Michigan post in May to pursue the Florida position, found himself caught in the crosshairs of Governor Ron DeSantis' crusade to make Florida "where 'woke' goes to die."

According to a scathing report by Slate's Alex Kirshner, Ono's past support for diversity initiatives at Michigan became his Achilles' heel in the Sunshine State. Despite Ono's desperate attempts to distance himself from his own record — what Slate describes as a "face plant" — MAGA Republicans weren't buying it.

Kirshner reveals the extent of DeSantis' iron grip on Florida's higher education system: "The state's public universities, not just UF in Gainesville, were turning over their presidents at a rapid rate. DeSantis effectively controls the state university system's 'board of governors,' which this past winter, gave itself the power to approve the picks by the campus-level board of trustees."

In an attempt to appease his conservative overlords, Ono spent weeks trying to rebrand himself as "a good soldier in the culture war against higher education." But on June 3, his efforts proved futile as the same audience he tried to woo denied him the job.

The backlash was swift and merciless. Donald Trump Jr. publicly questioned whether Florida's bosses had "lost their minds," while Republican Florida Rep. Byron Donalds demanded a new search. Ono's distinguished resume meant nothing to the MAGA crowd, who, as Kirshner points out, "aren't running universities to teach. They're running them to make a point."

In a final, biting observation, Kirshner concludes, "By debasing himself at their feet, Ono helped them do exactly that."