As University of Michigan President Santa Ono is set to become president at University of Florida, he said on Thursday that “combating antisemitism” will remain a priority, as it has “throughout my career.”

“I’ve worked closely with Jewish students, faculty and community leaders to ensure that campuses are places of respect, safety and inclusion for all,” Ono wrote in an Inside Higher Ed op-ed. 

Under the leadership of Ben Sasse, a former Nebraska senator who served as UF president until stepping down last year, Ono wrote that the school has been a “national leader in this regard — setting a gold standard in standing firmly against antisemitism and hate.” Sasse was among the first university presidents to immediately condemn Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack — as other campus leaders seemed paralyzed over how to respond.  

“That standard will not change under my leadership,” Ono said. He pledged to “continue to ensure that UF is a place where Jewish students feel fully supported, and where all forms of hatred and discrimination are confronted clearly and without hesitation.” Nearly 20% of the university’s student body is Jewish. 

Ono pointed to his decision as president of University of Michigan to eliminate centralized diversity, equity and inclusion offices — which have come under intense scrutiny on campuses nationwide for failing to address the rising anti-Jewish hate, and at times perpetuating it.  

“Like many, I supported what I believed to be the original intent of DEI — ensuring equal opportunity and fairness for every student. That’s something on which most everyone agrees. But over time, I saw how DEI became something else — more about ideology, division and bureaucracy, not student success. That’s why, as president of the University of Michigan, I made the decision to eliminate centralized DEI offices and redirect resources toward academic support and merit-based achievement. It wasn’t universally popular, but it was necessary. I stood by it — and I’ll bring that same clarity of purpose to UF,” Ono wrote in the op-ed. 

The University of Michigan has experienced some of the most disruptive anti-Israel and antisemitic activity on campus in the wake of Oct. 7 and ensuing war in Gaza. Last year, a Jewish student at the university was attacked in what the Ann Arbor Police Department described as “a bias-motivated assault.” 

Ono was seen as an ally of Michigan’s pro-Israel community who was quick to condemn acts of antisemitism — leading to pro-Palestinian vandals attacking his home on the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. In November, he visited the Nova Music Festival Exhibition in Detroit alongside several students.  

As Ono decamps from Ann Arbor, Domenico Grasso, the current chancellor of the University of Michigan-Dearborn, will become interim president.