Ben Sasse formally inaugurated as UF's 13th president after nine months on the job

University of Florida President Ben Sasse was officially inaugurated into his role nearly nine months after he started during a ceremony held in the University Auditorium Thursday afternoon.

Sasse took to the stage to recognize and thank his supporters in the UF student community, the Board of Trustees, government representatives and UF faculty and staff members.

“I wasn’t looking for some university presidency, in general,” he said. “Instead, I was persuaded. I was pursued and moved … telling me that this was not just a place, but a cause that I needed to join.”

In his inaugural address, Sasse pledged to make practical majors “even more practical,” refine the core curriculum, vigorously defend tenure as a critical tool for UF and increase transparency and accountability at the university.

“Too much of higher education wants to resist change. Too many institutions are complacent,” Sasse said. “This place has somehow been relatively insulated against complacency and self-satisfaction, and that’s darn attractive.”

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Sasse, who has faced backlash from some students and faculty for his conservative political views, also said he seeks to encourage viewpoint diversity on campus, rejecting zealotry and facilitating good faith agreements and conversations.

Other speakers included Scott Angle, UF’s interim provost, Mori Hosseini, the chair of the UF Board of Trustees, and Ray Rodrigues, the chancellor of the State University System of Florida, among others.

“What a fortunate generation of gators we are,” said Angle, who referred to Sasse as “Gator Ben.” “The dawn of a new era for our University coincides with a new era for our society.”

Hosseini said the Board of Trustees is fully supportive of Sasse and his presidency. He said UF is entering a new era, reiterating multiple times that UF currently ranks as the number one public institution in the nation.

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However, the top ranking comes from the Wall Street Journal, which isn't a popularly referenced ranking list. Since Sasse’s presidency has begun UF has lost its status as a “Top 5” public university, dropping one spot on the U.S. News & World Report list this year.

“We are ready to write this university's next chapter. Ben, we entrust with you the destiny of the flagship university of the great state of Florida and the number one public university in the country,” Hosseini said. “Let's change the world.”

Numerous local and state officials sat in the audience Thursday including Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nu?ez, Florida Reps. Chuck Clemons and Yvonne Hayes Hinson, state Sen. Keith Perry, Gainesville Police Department Chief Lonnie Scott, Alachua County Sheriff Emery Gainey, Alachua County School Board chair Tina Certain and Alachua County Commissioner Marihelen Wheeler.

Selecting Sasse

In January 2022, Fuchs announced he would be stepping down as president and would return as a professor in the College of Engineering. The Board of Trustees then began a secret search to find a new leader.

Senate Bill 520, a bill signed into law in March 2022, allowed UF to conduct most of the search in the dark without abiding by the requirements of Florida’s open meetings and public records laws.

Sasse’s role as the 13th president of the university was announced in October 2022 by a 15-member search committee. He was the sole finalist to come out of a months-long presidential search involving over 700 candidates at UF. Officials claimed no other finalist wanted to come forward unless they were chosen as the sole finalist.

The decision to name Sasse as president was met with pushback from the UF community, not only because he was the only finalist announced, but also due to his previously stated anti-LGBTQ and anti-abortion stances.

During the former Nebraska senator’s first visit to UF, he was met with 300 protestors in Emerson Alumni Hall demanding he “get his Sasse out of the Swamp.” The UF Board of Trustees unanimously approved Sasse in January anyway, The Gainesville Sun reported.

He resigned as senator on Jan. 8 and officially became president of UF on Feb. 6.

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Before UF

Sasse’s background largely revolves around politics, with little experience at educational institutions of UF’s size.

He earned his doctorate in American history from Yale University where he later taught. From 2009 to 2014 he served as president of Midland University, a private college in Fremont, Nebraska, with less than 2,000 students.

During his eight years in the U.S. Senate, Sasse was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict former president Donald Trump of incitement of insurrection during his second impeachment trial.

Despite his inexperience dealing with universities of UF’s size, on Thursday Sasse placed an emphasis on student mental health, open ideas and new viewpoints amidst higher education.

“The 22 million citizens of this gorgeous state have in this institution, the right lever, the right tools, so that we together, the University of Florida can move the world,” he said. “And going forward, this place can promote even more human flourishing, even more innovation to the benefit of our neighbors. And to you all, I would just like to say a sincere thank you.”

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Ben Sasse formally inaugurated as UF's 13th president