TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) — One of Florida's top universities is in limbo after the Board of Governors rejected its presidential pick, in what's being called an "embarrassment" for the state.

House Speaker Danny Perez blamed this failure on a lack of transparency and said that if House Bill 1321 hadn't been killed, this could have been prevented.

For the first time in the state's history, Florida's Board of Governors rejected a presidential finalist, Dr. Santa Ono.

Ono was in the running to be the University of Florida's next president, but there were concerns about his previous support for diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives while leading the University of Michigan.

The rejection comes after House members passed a bill that aimed to make presidential searches open to the publi

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