Ben Sasse Visit to University of Florida Met with Student Protests over Likely Presidential Appointment
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
University of Florida student protesters interrupted a forum where Senator Ben Sasse (R., Neb.) was speaking on Monday, voicing displeasure at the Nebraska Republican being the only finalist in the running to be the school’s next president.
About 300 student protesters piled into the university’s Emerson Alumni Hall, the Tampa Bay Times reported. Protesters stood in the hall lobby chanting, “Hey hey, ho ho. Ben Sasse has got to go.”
Outside Sen. Ben Sasse’s moderated forum to meet with students, hundreds have gathered protesting Sasse as the sole finalist in UF’s presidential search, citing his previous public statements on same-sex marriage and the search sealed from the public among reasons. pic.twitter.com/Uay2bQIbEf
— Divya Kumar (@divyadivyadivya) October 10, 2022
The chants could be heard from the room where Sasse was speaking, causing the senator to pause several times and ultimately end the forum 15 minutes early, the report said.
Protesters then gathered in the room where Sasse was set to meet with university employees. The loud demonstration led the university to hold the employee session remotely, the paper reported.
The demonstrators made five demands, including calling on Sasse to decline the president’s job and for the UF board of trustees to publicly release the names of all 12 people they had interviewed for the role, as well as to commit to picking a candidate who demonstrated “consistent advocacy.” The protesters also wanted the selection process to be more transparent and called for the repeal of a new state law that makes presidential searches at state colleges and universities largely secret.
The protesters took issue with Sasse’s stance on LGBT issues. In 2015, the senator called the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized gay marriage across the country, “a disappointment.”
“Marriage brings a wife and husband together so their children can have a mom and dad,” Sasse said at the time. “As a society, we need to celebrate marriage as the best way to provide stability and opportunity for kids.”
The first question asked during Sasse’s forum on Monday was about how he planned to protect LGBT individuals.
Amanda Phalin, president of the faculty senate, said faculty members are “deeply concerned” about the senators position on the issue. Phalin read Sasse the university’s nondiscrimination policy.
Sasse said his beliefs on the issue are a “subset” of who he is and noted that Obergefell is the law of the land.
“I believe in the universal dignity and the immeasurable worth of every single person. All the tens of millions of Floridians, all … 56,000 students here, all 30,000 faculty and staff,” Sasse said. “Every person has immeasurable worth and dignity, and we need to create a community of inclusion and respect and trust where people feel heard and appreciated and cherished.”
Sasse offered to meet with the LGBT advisory group on campus to learn about what is needed to create a more inclusive campus community.
