UF President Ben Sasse is stepping down after less than two years in office, citing concerns over his wife’s health. Sasse’s predecessor, Kent Fuchs, is expected to be tapped as interim president.
Sasse, a former Nebraska Republican Senator, said his resignation is effective July 31 — less than two weeks away — in a UF news release Thursday night.
“My wife Melissa’s recent epilepsy diagnosis and a new batch of memory issues have been hard, but we’re facing it together,” Sasse wrote in the release. “Our two wonderful daughters are in college, but our youngest is just turning 13. Gator Nation needs a president who can keep charging hard, Melissa deserves a husband who can pull his weight, and my kids need a dad who can be home many more nights. I need to step back and rebuild more stable household systems for a time. I’m going to remain involved in serving our UF students — past, present, and future — but I need to walk arm-in-arm with my dearest friend more hours of every week.”
In a separate post on X, Sasse said he asked UF Board of Trustees Chair Mori Hosseini to initiate a new presidential search Thursday after “extensive prayer and lots of family tears.”
Sasse’s employment contract, which includes a $1 million annual base salary and a performance bonus of up to $150,000 a year, was set to end in February 2028. It stipulates that if Sasse were to resign before then, he would be required to give six months notice to Hosseini unless otherwise approved by the board.
The UF Board of Trustees is expected to announce an interim president in the coming days and will eventually launch a new presidential search, although a timeline has not been announced. Sasse will continue to serve as President Emeritus and teach classes as a UF professor in Gainesville.
UF trustees held an emergency meeting 6:30 p.m. Thursday less than two hours before Sasse announced his resignation. Board members were notified of the meeting Wednesday night. UF spokesperson Cynthia Roldan said the agenda, which doesn’t provide any details as to why the meeting was called, was uploaded to the board’s website Wednesday night. Minutes will be posted “soon,” according to Roldan.
Following a search process shielded from public view, UF trustees named Sasse the sole finalist to replace UF’s 12th president Kent Fuchs in October 2022. While trustees unanimously voted for Sasse’s presidency, students protested his conservative voting record on abortion and LGBTQ+ issues.
He previously served as president of Midland University, a small, private Lutheran university in Fremont, Nebraska. He led the university’s recovery from the brink of financial ruin while also eliminating tenure.
Sasse largely spent his 17-month term as UF president, the shortest of any non-interim president in the university’s history, behind the scenes. In his first six months, he made few public appearances and refused to speak with The Alligator and other news outlets.
He broke his silence in August during faculty-only meetings where he revealed a preliminary framework of his strategic plan for the university. He told faculty he would advocate for changes to the Bright Futures Scholarship Program, which provides Florida Lottery-funded scholarships to in-state students. He also said new state-mandated post-tenure review processes would help crack down on the productivity of “quiet-retired” faculty.
In March, UF under Sasse fired 13 full-time diversity, equity and inclusion staffers, eliminated its office of the Chief Diversity Officer, and ended all DEI contracts to comply with Republican-backed higher education reforms targeting “wokeness” and “indoctrination” on state university campuses.
Sasse also oversaw an overhaul of university leadership, which included the hiring of former Senate staffers and longtime friends to top positions. In June 2023, Sasse tapped his longtime friend and political donor William Inboden to lead the Hamilton Center, UF’s state-mandated civic center which is tasked with teaching students about “Western canon.”
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) wrote in an X post that Sasse has “been a guiding light during a time of darkness the last few months with Hamas sympathizers taking over college campuses.”
“You led UF’s Gator Nation and the country in calling out antisemitism and preserving free expression,” Scott wrote. “I am glad to hear that the Gainesville academic community will continue to be served by your guidance.”
Alan Levine, the Board of Governors Vice Chair and a UF alum, wrote in an X post he was saddened to hear of Sasse’s resignation.
“He is doing the right thing as a husband and father, and I respect his decision,” Levine wrote. “He is a great man, and he’s my friend. I ask that everyone pray for Melissa and Ben. UF is on a trajectory for great success, and that will continue.”
Nikki Fried, chair of the Florida Democratic Party and a UF alum, wrote in an X post “Gator Nation thanks you.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Contact Garrett Shanley at gshanley@alligator.org. Follow him on X @garrettshanley.
Garrett Shanley is a fourth-year journalism major and the Summer 2024 university editor for The Alligator. Outside of the newsroom, you can find him watching Wong Kar-Wai movies and talking to his house plants.
