Despite his intentions, the student response indicates that Sasse’s nomination is a symptom of the increasing politicization of universities in America. If Sasse believes that he can escape politics by entering the classroom, he has underestimated how political the halls of higher education have become. He insisted that his politics would not prevent him from “supporting and affirming everybody in community.” He further stated that: “One of the things that’s appealing about this, frankly, is the opportunity to step back from politics.” Over the shouts of protestors outside the auditorium doors, Sasse fielded questions about how his conservative political stances-and particularly his anti-LGBTQ policy positions-would affect his tenure as president.
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“I think that education and the community surrounding the college should be free of this kind of partisanship and I worry about the effect that this level of bias or partisanship could have on the community.” “Ben Sasse has been presented as the sole nominee, which means that the community is being left out and their voices are being left out because there are no choices for alternative candidates,” Taylor Simmons, a junior at UF who attended the protests on Monday, stated in an interview.
The nomination was announced without prior notice to the faculty or student body on Thursday afternoon in the lead up to the university’s homecoming celebration, for which the university closed on Friday, and no other candidates were put forward publicly for consideration. The process by which Sasse was nominated has heightened concerns amongst the student body.
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