UF President Ben Sasse hired Lauren Lemasters, former UF student body president, as the presidential assistant and student life liaison in May.
Lemasters was one of 13 members of the UF Board of Trustees who unanimously voted Sasse into office last November.
As student life liaison, Lemasters serves as a point of contact for student groups, collaborates with the Office of Student Life and provides recommendations to enhance the student experience.
Lemasters also directly helps Sasse build relationships with student groups and engage with campus life.
“I’ve helped the president as he engages campus and looks at ‘what’s next’ for UF,” Lemasters said. “He’s committed to a middle-up planning process and part of my work is to help facilitate the logistics of those conversations.”
Lemasters’ recent activities include attending Fall preview sessions and welcoming returning Gators to campus during move-in.
She was hired on a temporary, one-year contract for $75,000 that is renewable for another year, according to the employment contract.
A public records request obtained by The Alligator in May identified Lemasters as a member of Sasse’s transition team.
Lemasters’ role in the Sasse administration has drawn criticism from members of Student Government due to her vote in favor of Sasse’s nomination in November, which differed from a majority of the student body’s opinion.
In response to Lemasters’ vote in favor of Sasse’s confirmation, the Student Senate Change Caucus submitted a resolution to impeach her on charges of malfeasance in November.
The Student Government Judiciary Committee postponed the resolution indefinitely and allowed Lemasters to finish her term.
Former Senate President Olivia Green announced her disapproval of Lemasters’ voting in favor of Sasse during her report at the Nov. 1, 2022 Senate meeting.
Green said both she and the student body disagreed with Lemasters’ decision, and she was disappointed in Lemasters’ choice.
“The students made their opinions on the nomination very clear and these opinions were disregarded today,” Green said at a November Senate meeting. “To the students we are charged with representing, I can say with certainty we see you, we hear you and we will continue to amplify student voices as one united Senate.”
Lemasters said there is no conflict with her being the former student body president and now working for Sasse.
“During my graduate year, I didn’t think that I would start my career working for my alma mater,” Lemasters wrote. “This job wasn’t discussed until my term as a UF trustee had ended and I didn’t get or agree to an offer until after I had graduated.”
Lemasters said working with Sasse has been amazing and has affirmed to her how much Sasse cares about UF.
“The entire President's office genuinely cares about our students and the positive life change they experience while attending UF,” Lemasters wrote. “Although this is not what I thought I would be doing a few months ago, it’s been a really fun and meaningful start to my career. I love UF and it’s been great to serve in this new capacity.”
Lemasters will continue to get input from the student body to best serve UF’s multifaceted campus, in addition to relying on her recent student experience, she said.
Senate President Oscar Santiago Perez (Change-District D) is concerned by Lemasters’ appointment and said Lemasters was contacted by multiple students and requested by the Student Senate to vote no on Sasse's nomination last year.
“If President Lemasters was offered this position on the condition that she voted yes during the Board of Trustees meeting and later publicly defended Sasse, then it undermines the trust that was placed in her to act as a representative of the Student Body,” Santiago Perez wrote.
Santiago Perez believes the information provided leads to further questions as to the process which led to Lemasters ultimately voting yes on Sasse's nomination.
“The System Party may claim that they moved on from Lauren Lemasters, but ultimately, they defended her decision during the impeachment process,” Santiago Perez wrote. “The System Party attached itself to Lauren's vote the moment they decided to fail the impeachment, twice.”
Current Judiciary Chairperson Jonathan C. Stephens (Change-District D) said they were disappointed with Lemasters having been appointed by Sasse, they wrote.
“I am frustrated because for many students on this campus, we don't get handed opportunities like this easily,” Stephens wrote. “We work hard, we persevere, we take many losses, and we pick ourselves up to try to get the small (usually underpaid) positions that we will earn in this university.”
Stephens is a proud co-filer of the articles of impeachment regarding Lemasters, and said they condemned the Gator senators who did not vote to impeach Lemasters.
“It is just convenient that after ignoring the pleas of thousands of students who simply wanted accountability within our system, that this job offer and acceptance wrapped in a bow tie was placed in front of Lemaster's lap,” Stephens wrote.
Stephens believes this is an example of nepotistic behavior, which they said has creeped UF’s campus for decades.
“She chose stuffing her pockets over saving our Student Body, and now it's our job to clean up the mess," Stephens wrote.
Contact Garrett Shanley and Vivienne Serrett at gshanley@alligator.org and vserret@alligator.org. Follow them on Twitter @garrettshanely and @vivienneserret.
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.
Vivienne Serret is a UF journalism and criminology senior, serving as the Fall 2024 race and equity reporter for The Alligator's Enterprise desk. She previously worked as a columnist and previously reported for The Alligator's university desk as the student government reporter. She loves karaoke and lifting at the gym.
