Editor’s note: The search committee told attendees that the sessions and names of attendees would not be recorded. Names of some speakers have been omitted to platform their unvarnished feedback on administration without jeopardizing their jobs or enrollment.
The 15-member search committee charged with finding UF’s next president spent the beginning of the Spring semester in virtual listening sessions consulting with hundreds of students, faculty, staff and donors. Their goal: to identify what Gator Nation wants — and doesn’t want — in a successor to former President Ben Sasse.
For some, expectations couldn’t be simpler.
“Not a jerk would be lovely,” one staff member quipped.
The overwhelming consensus, however, was that UF’s next president needs to be a seasoned academic with research bona fides — not another politician.
In other words: not Ben Sasse.
Sasse, a former Republican U.S. Senator from Nebraska, arrived in the Swamp two years ago with hefty promises but a limited resumé in higher education. Despite his Ivy League degrees and a stint as president of a small liberal-arts college, most listening session attendees characterized Sasse as a political appointee ill-suited to run the state’s flagship university.
“He was more of a politician than an academic,” one professor said.
Sasse’s tenure was short-lived and divisive. Citing worsening family health issues, he abruptly resigned in July after months of strained campus relations and a behind-the-scenes feud with Mori Hosseini, the chairman of UF’s Board of Trustees.
His legacy — marked by a secretive selection process, political paranoia and financial scandals — loomed large over the listening sessions.
“The last president was likely to be a political appointment,” said Juan Galan, a former chair of UF’s fundraising foundation. “Academia knew it and laughed at it. We can’t afford a second laugh.”
Some spent the sessions, meant to help craft the criteria and qualifications used to recruit the next president, throwing thinly veiled jabs at Sasse.
“I'd love a president who is funny and relatable,” one staffer said. “Not so high on their dignity that they can’t have a warm conversation with anyone in our UF community.”
Others were more blunt.
“The hiring of Ben Sasse was a complete and total disaster,” one alum said. “He was hired under the cloak of darkness… and we saw how that worked out: not very good.”
Variations of “restoring stability and trust” frequently came up as pressing items on the incoming president’s agenda. Professors, staff and alumni appeared exhausted by Sasse’s chaotic presidency and pleaded for a return to traditional academic leadership.
One alum put the search for Sasse’s replacement in terms of hiring a coach.
“I personally don't want an up-and-comer that seems to have potential. I don't want a good old boy,” the alum said. “I want the proven leader of a top tier research university that is among the ranks we should aspire to be.”
A turnaround president
Listening session attendees — particularly donors — stressed the need for UF’s next president to recover the university’s standing in national rankings.
Under Sasse, UF lost its heralded Top 5 status in the U.S. News and World Report’s public university rankings, dropping spots for two consecutive years. The Wall Street Journal briefly ranked UF as the No. 1 public university during Sasse’s tenure, but it plummeted to 34th the following year.
“I think we have a lot of repair work to do,” said Joelen Merkel, a former UF trustee and current board member of the university’s fundraising foundation.
For Merkel, Sasse’s successor doesn’t just need to turn around rankings; they need to restore UF’s reputation.
“We’ve lost our way a bit,” Merkel said, citing a lack of transparency around Sasse’s decision-making and outsized expenses, which are now undergoing a state-mandated audit.
The Alligator first reported in August that Sasse tripled annual spending out of the president’s office during his 17-month tenure, channeling millions to consulting contracts and salaries for Capitol Hill staff who worked remotely while racking up significant travel expenses.
The governor’s office called for an audit, which Merkel said must be completed before the next president is named to ensure accountability and financial stability.
“I can't imagine anyone stepping up to the table without knowing the answers to the questions that were raised [about Sasse’s spending],” Merkel said. “Primarily, how did this happen?”
A political shield
Students and professors called for a leader who can act as a buffer against the conservative politics of Tallahassee — a role in which Sasse was markedly more successful than his predecessor Kent Fuchs.
“This president is coming in a very, very tense political landscape,” one student said. “It's important that over the entirety of their tenure, they keep the student body's priorities first.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican state lawmakers have sought to do away with diversity initiatives at state universities and restrict how subjects like race, gender and sexuality are taught in classrooms. When Fuchs yielded to pressure from Tallahassee on issues concerning academic freedom and pandemic-era mask and vaccine mandates, he was pegged as a president of Gator Nation who wouldn’t bite.
Sasse, meanwhile, retained some political savvy from his term-and-a-half as a U.S. Senator. Under Sasse’s leadership, the university waved through a ban on publicly funded diversity programs to comply with a new state law, but opposed the DeSantis administration's order to shut down UF’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter amid First Amendment concerns.
A visible leader
Beyond fending off Tallahassee and repairing UF’s rankings and reputation, attendees said the next president must reconnect with the campus community. Sasse, known for his reclusive style, was described by listening session attendees as a president who was distant and disengaged from professors and the student body.
Sasse spent the first leg of his presidency working behind-the-scenes, during which students plastered posters of his face across campus that read: “MISSING!” and “Have you seen this man?” It was a far cry from Fuchs, who could regularly be spotted chatting and taking selfies with passersby, occasionally bussing students to class on a golf cart.
“That was a gift,” one staffer said. ”It would be very nice to see again.”
As one student put it: UF’s next president needs to be a “spirit animal” for faculty and students.
“In the spirit of the Gator,” the student said, “it needs to be someone who is regenerative.”
Contact Shaine Davison and Sofia Meyers at sdavison@alligator.org and smeyers@alligator.org. Follow them on X @shainedavison and @SofiaMeyer84496.
