University of Florida’s chair of the Board of Trustees (BOT) spoke out in a written statement about the Florida Board of Governors’ decision not to confirm Dr. Santa Ono as the next president.

Tuesday’s 10-6 vote was a major rebuke to the UF Board of Trustees, which last week unanimously selected Ono for the post, and trustees Chairman Mori Hosseini, an influential Republican donor with longstanding ties to the state university system.

Hossenini shared a message in a post from the university’s X account.

It read, in part, “We believe Dr. Ono was uniquely qualified to lead this University at this moment. The symbolism and substance of a sitting president of a university as prestigious as the University of Michigan... choosing to come to the University of Florida should not be lost.”

Ono

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