Nebraska US Senator Ben Sasse is one step closer to becoming the next President at the University of Florida as the Florida Board of Trustees unanimously approved Sasse Tuesday.
It is now on the Florida Board of Governors to officially approve Sasse.
Once he officially gets the job, Sasse is expected to resign from the senate, leaving it to the Nebraska Governor to pick the next US Senator.
The move to make Sasse, a Republican US Senator since 2015, the lone finalist was met with criticism from students and faculty.
During his initial public interviews on campus, students packed the building the interview was held and protested Sasse for his views on LGBTQ and abortion rights.
The UF Faculty Senate also voted last week no confidence in the entire process that ended with Sasse being selected as the lone finalist.
When asked, Sasse said today’s politics “often reduce whole humans to supercharged policy issues” and vowed to remain as apolitical as possible as president.
He also said he would continue the diversity and inclusion work of current President Kent Fuchs.
Sasse has also been brazen as a Senator in pushing back against the China Communist Party, especially their treatment of the Uighurs. Sasse was asked by Trustees about making sure Chinese Faculty and students felt welcome.
Sasse multiple times made a point to differentiate the Chinese people, who said he wants to help and protect, from the CCP that runs the government.
Sasse also said point blank he was never “shepherded” through the process by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in any way. He said he last saw DeSantis when he was a congressman last decade.
Both the student and faculty representative on Florida’s Board of Trustees voted yes on Sasse, but they both said they expected him to keep his commitment to diversity and inclusion.
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