BREAKING: Board of Trustees unanimously votes to affirm Ben Sasse for university president

The University of Florida (UF) Board of Trustees voted unanimously Wednesday afternoon to install Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse as its 13th president.

Sasse’s final interview started at 10 a.m. and concluded at 2 p.m. 

12 people spoke for the public comments portion of the meeting. All but one condemned the appointment of Senator Sasse as UF’s president. 

Several individuals called Sasse’s qualifications into question with one student claiming Sasse knew nothing about the job.

“[Sasse] knows nothing about state-funded universities. He knows nothing about research. He knows nothing about our community, and here he is, leader of it all,” a third-year Ph.D. student named Brynn Taylor told the Board of Trustees. 

Another student turned to Sasse and asked the senator why he was a part of this process. 

“[L]astly, I want to ask Senator, why are you here,” said freshman student Nathaniel Pelton. “That is the question that I have wanted to know and that so many students have been wanting to ask you straight on this entire time. Why are you here?”

One individual, however, had a different take on Sasse’s appointment. Tara Etzel identified herself as a member of the Gainesville community and noted that she works in her own private practice after graduating from UF’s College of Medicine. 

[RELATED: WATCH: Ben Sasse: Likely next President of University of Florida]

“When Dr. Sasse’s name was announced, I read his most recent book three weeks ago and I was so full of hope,” she said. “It seemed leadership was coming that cared about and loved America. Not just a particular type of American but all Americans, someone who can inspire us to think of new ways to live together and appreciate each other in a rapidly changing and diverse world.”

Etzel called Sasse “truly brilliant” and “passionate.” She also criticized the outrage that his nomination had created. 

“We decided before we considered Dr. Sasse. We use Florida politics to determine who the newcomer could be and decided he was them,” Etzel stated. “I’m disappointed that the University of Florida doesn’t want to be the pivot where America changes direction. Our university and our state have a unique opportunity to rise above social media noise and strict party divisions and appoint a leader with vision.”

After the public comments phase concluded, the Board of Trustees asked Sasse about a wide variety of topics including antisemitism, China, political involvement in his nomination, his political neutrality, and how he would handle LGBTQ affairs at UF. 

One trustee asked Sasse if he would “commit to preserving…initiatives and services and policies that LGBTQ staff and students at UF rely on daily and…commit…continue the growth of these LGBTQ plus supporting services on campus?”

Sasse replied that he looked forward to a discussion with an advisory group regarding the initiatives and “expect[ed] that [his] record would be fairly indistinguishable from [President Fox’s].” 

[RELATED: PROF. GIORDANO: Ben Sasse is the right man for the University of Florida]

This will be Sasse’s second time leading a university after he previously served as president of Midland University in Nebraska from 2010 to 2014.

Sasse is expected to announce that he is stepping down from his office as Senator, which he has held since 2015. 

The vote comes after the UF Faculty Senate held an emergency meeting on Oct. 27 and issued a vote of no confidence regarding Sasse’s selection for the university president. The senators voted 72-16.

Sasse’s confirmation has been hounded by weeks of protests and leftist opposition as Campus Reform previously reported. 300 protesters shut down a public forum with the Senator at Emerson Hall on campus in early October and a petition with 1,200 signatures has been passed around campus to remove the conservative senator from the selection process. 

Campus Reform contacted UF and Ben Sasse for comment and will update this article accordingly. 

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