Former Sen. Ben Sasse Takes Office as University of Florida President

Less work than being a Senator, people hate you less, big salary, lots of perks and your whole life is basically just ribbon cutting, going to football games and parties

 

no idea I could only guess. The popular theory is he wants to be governor.

 

Damn, you guys need to get together and vote his ass off the island.
'Sasse's base salary begins at $1 million. Assuming he receives the maximum annual raise for which he is eligible (4% per year), his total base salary will be just more than $5.4 million over five years. Completing the five-year term will add a deferred compensation retention bonus of $1 million'.

 

I'm not so sure about that. Having seen what a DeSantis puppet looks like at a Florida university (Richard Corcoran), it doesn't really seem like Sasse is just DeSantis's mouthpiece.

 

This needs to be past tense. It has been so for a while now.

 

Agreed. Don't send kids to college. Higher ed is a farce for the libs.

 

I thought you were referring to University presidents' messages. These appear to be student groups speaking out. I'm sure some prezs responded and naturally would have to do so in a measured way. Interesting in your previous message that you want to dictate what people's speech should be. Isn't that what y'all regularly accuse liberals of doing?

 

The politicization is really a fascinating issue. Seemingly no matter what anyone sez, it will be criticized and that's not a matter of me supporting Sasse. Folks all excited about Sasse's message might not realize that it's little more than a surface matter; a veneer if you will. I have an acquaintance who is serving on faculty senate (or was in the spring anyway) and they stated exactly what you have: Sasse has accomplished next to nothing and when he met with them, he spoke a lot of words w/o saying a damn thing.

I read an article in The Chronicle today and was surprised to read that early on, few college presidents spoke out. At this stage, though, some student groups are placing admins in a precarious position to a point where they must respond.

Here it is:
Here’s What Colleges Are, and Aren’t, Saying About the Israel-Hamas War

 

What's wrong with having a more intimately-informed perspective?

 

My personal view is that the universities shouldn't speak out merely because student groups are saying stupid things. Student groups don't speak for the university and have free speech rights. If the university wades into it, there is zero chance it'll please everybody.

 

I am close friends with a former bot member, key members of faculty senate, and three associate provosts not to mention other deans and directors. Everyone, even his early loudest supporters, are now concerned with his lack of leadership, action, and vision.

this is not just my opinion. Hell one person I know well in particular told me 4 months ago how sasse was amazing, a different breed, and how he would change everything. Now they are dejectedly looking for other jobs because they’ve lost all faith in him. That’s in 4 months…

maybe he turns things around? I think his lack of higher Ed admin experience is really killing him.

 

Informative. What is a bot member?

 

Guessing Board of Trustees (?)

 

Correct.

 

Yep, totally agree. Ya have to understand, though, that once the students speak, esp. in any way that would be considered controversial, the admins have their hands forced. Remain silent and the press will run with the "X university admins are indifferent" narrative. It's a legit catch-22. You are right about student groups not serving as spokespersons. They do, however, have a voice and in enough circumstances, one that will be heard. The admins lose if they are silent and as you said, won't be able to please everybody once they step in it.

 

Admin is having way more issues with faculty than students. Who’s on first.

 

Its really not if you actually believe in free speech, what usually happens is they put out some mealy mouth statement tut tutting whatever they disagree with while also saying "we respect free speech and people's right to an opinion." But really, this speaks to how bad the press is and how over covered college campuses are, particularly by conservative media. No one should give a shit about what happens at a college if they have been out of college more than a few years and dont work at one!

 

FYI. the WSJ quoted Sasse's letter in its entirety.

Opinion | Ben Sasse’s Letter on Israel to Jewish Gators

 

And yet, The University of Florida is one of the top public universities in the nation. That is substantially non-farcical. Hmm.