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Yahoo
29-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Opinion - Red states have launched a hostile takeover of public universities
Earlier this month, for the first time in its history, the Florida Board of Governors rejected a university's choice of a college president. Despite unanimous approval by the University of Florida's board of trustees, MAGA activists attacked Santa Ono, a former president of the University of Michigan, for his past support of diversity, equity and inclusion programs; his views on admissions, gender-affirming care and climate change; and his handling of pro-Palestinian protesters and the COVID-19 pandemic. Ono's claim that 'I am here to ensure that DEI never returns to the University of Florida' was too little, too late. Florida is at the extreme edge of an unprecedented red-state campaign to reinforce and sometimes outdo the Trump administration's efforts to remake higher education. But Florida is by no means alone. Since 2023, 135 bills have been introduced in 29 states to eliminate DEI offices, ban mandatory diversity training, forbid the use of diversity statements in hiring and promotion and bar colleges and universities from requiring classes that 'promote concepts such as systemic racism, reparations, and racial or gender diversity.' Twenty-seven of those bills have become law. Educational 'gag orders' restricting instruction about race, gender and sexual orientation have also grown increasingly extreme. Ohio limits discussion of 'controversial beliefs or policies,' including 'climate policies, electoral politics, foreign policy, diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, immigration policy, marriage, or abortion,' requires universities to 'ensure the fullest degree of 'intellectual diversity,' and bans or restricts most DEI-related policies and programs. Florida's Stop Woke Act, which sought to regulate how colleges and universities teach 'divisive concepts,' has been blocked by federal courts as a violation of the First Amendment. Nonetheless, Florida's Board of Governors and State Board of Education have eliminated hundreds of general education courses from the state's 40 public institutions to comply with legislation banning instruction based on 'identity politics' or 'theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States.' Last week, following criticism of existing accreditation agencies for supporting DEI, the public university systems in Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee decided to establish their own accreditor. Ohio, Utah and Florida mandate civics instruction focused on a conservative vision of Western civilization. Ohio requires students to read at least five essays from 'The Federalist Papers,' Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'Letter from Birmingham Jail' and the writings of Adam Smith. Multiple states — including Florida, Arizona, Tennessee, Ohio, Texas and Iowa — have established civics institutes intended to be bastions of conservative thought. At least 11 states have passed laws imposing new levels of post-tenure review or making it easier to dismiss tenured faculty. Indiana, for example, prohibited the award of tenure to faculty 'unlikely to foster a culture of free inquiry, free expression, and intellectual diversity,' and authorized the demotion or termination of faculty who do not, in the board's judgment, help create that culture. In several states, proposals to eliminate tenure have only narrowly failed. The academic tradition of shared governance is also under attack. A bill in Arizona, vetoed by its governor, would have stripped faculty of the ability to approve academic degrees or programs. In a law enacted earlier this week that may serve as a model for other states, Texas reserved to the governing board of each public university — whose members are appointed by the governor — the right 'to overturn any decision made by the institution regarding any changes to the general education curriculum'; 'approve or deny the hiring of an individual for the position of provost or deputy, associate, or assistant provost'; 'collaborate with institutions … to set campus admission standards'; and 'overturn any hiring decision for the position of vice president or dean.' Texas also gave university boards exclusive authority to establish faculty senates or councils; prohibited them from issuing statements not directly related to their educational mandate; and limited them to advisory roles, with the presiding officer appointed by the institution's president. Faculty and staff 'may provide recommendations on academic matters,' so long as 'governing boards and institutional leadership retain clear and ultimate decision-making authority.' In another sign of the hyper-politicization of higher education, red states are increasingly using ideological litmus tests for prospective trustees and presidents. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, for example, transformed New College from, in his words, a center of 'woke indoctrination' into a conservative haven by stacking the board with right-wing partisans and naming a conservative president. These campaigns at the federal and state level to undermine academic freedom, weaken faculty authority and impose conservative values are often compared to McCarthy-era initiatives, but what's happening today is far broader and more damaging. McCarthyites focused almost exclusively on a single issue — the perceived spread of communist influence. Mandates were directed principally at faculty and staff who refused to take loyalty oaths. Professors of economics and political science were pressured to teach the virtues of democracy and the 'free enterprise system.' Even when institutions dragged their feet in complying, neither states nor the federal government imposed anything remotely like the punitive and crippling measures employed against educational institutions today. Nonetheless, the McCarthy era fostered a climate of fear and intellectual conformity in higher education that took years to dissipate. When, if ever, will public and private institutions recover from the ongoing all-out assault on the freedom of teaching and learning that made American higher education the envy of the world? It's anyone's guess. Glenn C. Altschuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Emeritus Professor of American Studies at Cornell University. David Wippman is emeritus president of Hamilton College. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
29-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Red states have launched a hostile takeover of public universities
Earlier this month, for the first time in its history, the Florida Board of Governors rejected a university's choice of a college president. Despite unanimous approval by the University of Florida's board of trustees, MAGA activists attacked Santa Ono, a former president of the University of Michigan, for his past support of diversity, equity and inclusion programs; his views on admissions, gender-affirming care and climate change; and his handling of pro-Palestinian protesters and the COVID-19 pandemic. Ono's claim that 'I am here to ensure that DEI never returns to the University of Florida' was too little, too late. Florida is at the extreme edge of an unprecedented red-state campaign to reinforce and sometimes outdo the Trump administration's efforts to remake higher education. But Florida is by no means alone. Since 2023, 135 bills have been introduced in 29 states to eliminate DEI offices, ban mandatory diversity training, forbid the use of diversity statements in hiring and promotion and bar colleges and universities from requiring classes that 'promote concepts such as systemic racism, reparations, and racial or gender diversity.' Twenty-seven of those bills have become law. Educational 'gag orders' restricting instruction about race, gender and sexual orientation have also grown increasingly extreme. Ohio limits discussion of 'controversial beliefs or policies,' including 'climate policies, electoral politics, foreign policy, diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, immigration policy, marriage, or abortion,' requires universities to 'ensure the fullest degree of 'intellectual diversity,' and bans or restricts most DEI-related policies and programs. Florida's Stop Woke Act, which sought to regulate how colleges and universities teach 'divisive concepts,' has been blocked by federal courts as a violation of the First Amendment. Nonetheless, Florida's Board of Governors and State Board of Education have eliminated hundreds of general education courses from the state's 40 public institutions to comply with legislation banning instruction based on 'identity politics' or 'theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States.' Last week, following criticism of existing accreditation agencies for supporting DEI, the public university systems in Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee decided to establish their own accreditor. Ohio, Utah and Florida mandate civics instruction focused on a conservative vision of Western civilization. Ohio requires students to read at least five essays from 'The Federalist Papers,' Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'Letter from Birmingham Jail' and the writings of Adam Smith. Multiple states — including Florida, Arizona, Tennessee, Ohio, Texas and Iowa — have established civics institutes intended to be bastions of conservative thought. At least 11 states have passed laws imposing new levels of post-tenure review or making it easier to dismiss tenured faculty. Indiana, for example, prohibited the award of tenure to faculty 'unlikely to foster a culture of free inquiry, free expression, and intellectual diversity,' and authorized the demotion or termination of faculty who do not, in the board's judgment, help create that culture. In several states, proposals to eliminate tenure have only narrowly failed. The academic tradition of shared governance is also under attack. A bill in Arizona, vetoed by its governor, would have stripped faculty of the ability to approve academic degrees or programs. In a law enacted earlier this week that may serve as a model for other states, Texas reserved to the governing board of each public university — whose members are appointed by the governor — the right 'to overturn any decision made by the institution regarding any changes to the general education curriculum'; 'approve or deny the hiring of an individual for the position of provost or deputy, associate, or assistant provost'; 'collaborate with institutions … to set campus admission standards'; and 'overturn any hiring decision for the position of vice president or dean.' Texas also gave university boards exclusive authority to establish faculty senates or councils; prohibited them from issuing statements not directly related to their educational mandate; and limited them to advisory roles, with the presiding officer appointed by the institution's president. Faculty and staff 'may provide recommendations on academic matters,' so long as 'governing boards and institutional leadership retain clear and ultimate decision-making authority.' In another sign of the hyper-politicization of higher education, red states are increasingly using ideological litmus tests for prospective trustees and presidents. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, for example, transformed New College from, in his words, a center of 'woke indoctrination' into a conservative haven by stacking the board with right-wing partisans and naming a conservative president. These campaigns at the federal and state level to undermine academic freedom, weaken faculty authority and impose conservative values are often compared to McCarthy-era initiatives, but what's happening today is far broader and more damaging. McCarthyites focused almost exclusively on a single issue — the perceived spread of communist influence. Mandates were directed principally at faculty and staff who refused to take loyalty oaths. Professors of economics and political science were pressured to teach the virtues of democracy and the 'free enterprise system.' Even when institutions dragged their feet in complying, neither states nor the federal government imposed anything remotely like the punitive and crippling measures employed against educational institutions today. Nonetheless, the McCarthy era fostered a climate of fear and intellectual conformity in higher education that took years to dissipate. When, if ever, will public and private institutions recover from the ongoing all-out assault on the freedom of teaching and learning that made American higher education the envy of the world? It's anyone's guess. Glenn C. Altschuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Emeritus Professor of American Studies at Cornell University. David Wippman is emeritus president of Hamilton College.
New York Times
28-06-2025
- New York Times
Jim Harbaugh added to computer hacking lawsuit against ex-Michigan OC Matt Weiss
Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh has been added as a defendant in a class-action lawsuit filed by 11 anonymous students against former University of Michigan offensive coordinator Matt Weiss, who has been accused of hacking the email, social media and cloud storage accounts of thousands of female athletes and downloading intimate photos and videos. Advertisement The amended complaint, which was filed on Friday in U.S. District Court in Michigan, claims that Harbaugh, who was the coach of Michigan at the time of Weiss's employment, and university officials knew that Weiss had been accessing the plaintiffs' private information when they allowed him to coach in the Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 31, 2022. Weiss's access to the plaintiffs' private information between Dec. 21 and Dec. 23 was reported to university police prior to the College Football Playoff game, the lawsuit says. Along with Harbaugh, athletic director Warde Manuel and former university president Santa Ono were added to the complaint. 'Naming head coach Jim Harbaugh and athletic director Warde Manuel in this complaint reflects our belief that leadership at the highest levels either knew of these threats or deliberately ignored them, prioritizing athletic prestige and profit over the safety and dignity of students,' attorney Parker Stinar said in an emailed statement. 'By placing athletic success and financial interests above accountability, transparency, and student welfare, the University failed in its basic duty of care.' Michigan lost the playoff game 51-45 to TCU and Weiss was placed on administrative leave two weeks later before being fired by the end of January. Weiss was indicted in March on 14 counts of unauthorized access to computers and 10 counts of aggravated identity theft. The charges carry a maximum sentence of more than 90 years in prison. Weiss entered a not guilty plea and awaits trial in November in a federal courthouse. Harbaugh has previously said that he didn't learn of allegations involving Weiss until after the Fiesta Bowl. 'Shocked,' Harbaugh said to reporters in March at the NFL Annual Meeting when asked about his reaction to the indictment. 'Completely shocked. Disturbed.' Advertisement Michigan and the Chargers did not respond to requests for comment. The lawsuit was originally filed in March and is one of multiple civil cases filed by female student-athletes against Weiss. Authorities say Weiss gained access to databases maintained by Keffer Development Services. The databases held athletes' personal information, including encrypted passwords. Keffer Development Services was listed as an original defendant in the civil lawsuit filed by the plaintiffs represented by Stinar. Prior to his time at Michigan, Weiss worked under John Harbaugh as an assistant coach with the Baltimore Ravens from 2009 to 2020. Allegations of computer hacking against Weiss date to 2015, when he was with Baltimore. Weiss's coaching career began in 2005 as a graduate assistant under Jim Harbaugh at Stanford.
CBS News
20-06-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Former Michigan President Santa Ono will not return to university faculty, officials say
Former University of Michigan President Santa Ono will not return to a faculty position after he pursued the presidential role at the University of Florida and was rejected. A U of M spokesperson confirmed on Friday that Ono resigned from employment. The university did not provide any further details. Ono confirmed to The Detroit News that he informed the university he was returning, but stopped short of sharing his future plans. Ono was named Michigan's 15th president in 2022. He announced in May 2025 that he was stepping down to go for the same role at the University of Florida. He received initial approval from the university's Board of Trustees, but was rejected by the Florida Board of Governors a week later. Before the Board of Governors' 10-6 vote, several prominent conservatives raised questions about Ono over pro-Palestinian protests, climate change efforts, gender ideology and DEI programs at the University of Michigan and his previous academic positions. One of those conservatives was U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, who said that he had "serious concerns" about Ono potentially becoming president. Scott urged the Board of Governors to question the encampment that occurred on U of M's Diag last year and Ono's response to reports of anitsemitism on campus. Before becoming Michigan's president, he served six years as president and vice-chancellor of the University of British Columbia and as president and provost of the University of Cincinnati. He was set to replace Kent Fuchs, who became the school's interim president last summer after ex-U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse stepped down. Sasse left the U.S. Senate, where he had represented Nebraska, to become the university's president in 2023. According to the University of Florida's website, Fuchs remains the university's interim president.
Vancouver Sun
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Vancouver Sun
Will the real Santa Ono please stand up?
The video that essentially scuttled Santa Ono's chances of landing a US $3-million-a-year president's job at the University of Florida concludes with the former head of the University of B.C. telling viewers he is 'speaking to you from the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Musqueam people.' In the video clip from Canada, Ono repeats his Indigenous land acknowledgment in French. Other portions of the video feature him lamenting 'colonial funding of the university' and 'dispossession' of Indigenous lands. The 12-minute video was put together by Seattle conservative activist Christopher Rufo, and has been viewed more than 730,000 times on X. A daily roundup of Opinion pieces from the Sun and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Informed Opinion will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. While it was effective in building opposition to what many had thought was Ono's shoe-in candidacy for president of the University of Florida, the video consists of little more than a series of filmed pledges Ono has made in the past decade in which he tells his audiences how committed he is to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). One segment spotlights Ono saying there is 'systemic racism at the University of B.C.,' where he was president from 2016 to 2022. A dual citizen who was born in Vancouver in 1962 while his American father was teaching mathematics for a few years at UBC, Ono then adds: 'Systemic racism exists at every university.' In another video Ono vows to create more 'intentional Black spaces' on campus, while recruiting more Black students and professors and designing more awards for Black people. Ono goes on to say: 'The climate crisis is the existential crisis of our time,' and promises to stop his university investing in companies that produce greenhouse-gas emissions. He also declares the importance of 'Pink Shirt Day' (devoted to anti-bullying) and vows to protect people who are 'two-spirit' and 'gender nonbinary.' After Ono became president of the University of Michigan in 2022, he continued to champion anti-racism, gender inclusiveness, the 'climate emergency' and affirmative action. 'Racism,' he said, 'is one of America's original sins.' Under Ono the University of Michigan's DEI department ballooned to 240 employees and an annual budget of US$30 million. He became the continent's poster boy for the movement. But this year Ono appeared to turn his back on some of his once outspoken progressive values. The conversion happened about the same time that U.S. President Donald Trump was elected in November and began attacking DEI programs everywhere, especially in taxpayer-funded institutions. In March, Ono virtually dismantled the University of Michigan's DEI department. Next week, the Florida Board of Governors will vote for or against Santa Ono as president of the University of Florida. If the board wants Florida to remain the place "where woke goes to die," it must reject Ono and his left-wing radicalism. He then wrote an opinion piece for Inside Higher Ed , stating he initially supported DEI initiatives because he thought their aim was 'equal opportunity and fairness for every student.' 'But over time, I saw how DEI became something else — more about ideology, division and bureaucracy, not student success.' He wants to re-emphasize the value of merit. In large part because of his change of philosophy, Ono, who had much earlier served as president of the University of Cincinnati, was touted on May 4 as the 'sole finalist' for president of the University of Florida. It's America's third largest university. At the time, Ono's candidacy had been unanimously approved by the board of trustees of the University of Florida. That's even though Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis had earlier declared his state is 'where woke goes to die.' People began taking notice, though. Following the release of Rufo's May 28 video and subsequent complaints, Florida's board of governors, which oversees all state universities, voted 10-6 against Ono. Board of governors member Paul Renner, who was against Ono's confirmation, said he didn't believe Ono was sincere in distancing himself from his earlier DEI efforts: 'The public record completely contradicted what the nominee was telling us.' At the University of Michigan, a group representing graduate employees also chastised Ono for lacking principles in what appeared to be a flip-flop. Some commentators tagged him a 'chameleon.' It's impossible for the rest of us to know what is truly going on in Ono's heart. But his dilemma echoes the puzzle posed in the longtime TV panel show To Tell the Truth, in which three challengers all claim to be the same person. The truth is only revealed when the host finally asks them: 'Will the real (person's name) please stand up?' It goes without saying being a university president in recent years has been like navigating a mass attack of ideology-packed drones, whether to do with Israel-Gaza, Black Lives Matter, migration policy or transgender rights. And a combative Trump has done everything he can to up the stakes, repealing affirmative action programs, cancelling government grants to Ivy League universities and deporting activist foreign students. In many ways, it's Ono's six years at UBC that most came back to haunt him. That's where he made most of the DEI promises Rufo aired in his video. Ono was filming his DEI announcements even while some of the things being most noted about his time at UBC, which former president Stephen Toope once described as 'ruthlessly secular,' had been his open commitment to evangelical Christianity. He was a lay preacher and gave active support to Vancouver's Tenth Church, including support to establish a branch on campus. To show his commitment to supporting mental health, the former immunology researcher made a point of revealing he has suffered from depression and as a teenager considered suicide. Even some of his critics acknowledge Ono sometimes tried to stand up for free speech and to protect Jewish students on campus. But they also complain he failed to truly protect conservative voices. A few days before the final vote on the University of Florida posting, Rufo, who is with the Manhattan Institute, published a letter by the young man who was head of UBC's free speech club when Ono was president. In it, Noah Alter charges that Ono's administration threw multiple roadblocks in the way of speaking engagements by conservative journalist Ben Shapiro and former Muslim Yasmine Mohammed. It also cancelled a talk by author Andy Ngo, a critic of the left-wing militant movement known as Antifa. In May, Ono was replaced at the University of Michigan by an interim president. As a result, he's between jobs. Since crashing into his career nightmare in Florida, he hasn't spoken publicly. dtodd@
