Governor Ron DeSantis pledged during his reelection campaign that Florida would be “where woke goes to die.” DeSantis built his reputation on resisting some of the worst impulses of elite culture: critical race theory, gender ideology, and DEI. He stood his ground against powerful state interests, including Disney, and enacted generational changes in Florida’s public university system. Voters rewarded him with an overwhelming mandate for reform.

Now, his agenda appears to be at risk—and woke is threatening a return to power.

The proximate cause is the nomination of Santa Ono, formerly of the Universities of British Columbia and Michigan, as president of the University of Florida. According to multiple sources familiar with the process, UF Board of Trustees chair Mori Hosseini, a megadonor to state Republicans, led the charge to nominate Ono, whose background he believed would bolster the university’s prestige.

If so, however, it comes with a price. Ono rose through the ranks not because of a reputation for reform, but for reliably toeing the ideological line that has defined the status quo in academia for the past decade. He has expressed support for seemingly every left-wing fad, from “systemic racism” and “climate justice” to DEI and affirmative action. He puts “he/him” gender pronouns in his Instagram profile and gladly recites “land acknowledgments,” which promote the idea that Europeans are illegitimate occupiers of “unceded” native territory.

Last week, I circulated on social media several videos featuring Ono’s past statements, setting off a firestorm in Florida political circles. Governor DeSantis pointed out that he was “not involved” in the selection. According to multiple sources familiar with the matter, members of the Florida Board of Governors, which has final approval over the nomination, were blindsided by the material. Several expressed shock at Ono’s left-wing record and questioned whether the search firm provided a full dossier to the original search committee, as required by state regulation.