University of Florida Students Crash Event to Protest Appointment of Republican Senator as President: ‘Ben Sasse Has Got to Go!’

Makiya Seminera/The Alligator

Outgoing U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) found himself face-to-face with student protesters at the University of Florida, where he will become the school’s next president. Sasse will resign from the Senate later this year to take the post.

Sasse was at the university on Monday giving a public interview at Emerson Hall. During the event, protestors could be heard outside chanting, “Hey hey, hey ho, Ben Sasse has got to go!”

The chants were audible inside the room, prompting Sasse to quip, “They have good rhythm.”

Eventually, the demonstrators made their way into the room, where they continued chanting.

Makiya Seminera, the editor-in-chief of The Alligator student newspaper, posted videos on Twitter.

Protestors opened the door and entered the room. The forum temporarily paused as Sasse watched the group of protestors. He was now went back to responding to moderated questions. @TheAlligator pic.twitter.com/r4EkGwDFJR

— Makiya Seminera (@makseminera) October 10, 2022

Seminera reported that before the protestors entered the room, Sasse was peppered with questions from faculty about some of his past comments, which included comments to high school students advising them not to major in psychology. Sasse was also questioned about whether he’s committed to hiring more racial minorities to the school’s faculty.

The University of Florida’s board of trustees will take up his nomination for the position, for which he is the only finalist. That – in addition to the fact Sasse is a conservative – has rankled some students, faculty, and alumni.

“I’m proud of the students for standing up against this decision because it’s clearly not in the best interest of the university, because this decision was made in the dark,” said Daniel Uhlfelder, an alumnus of the UF law school and candidate who ran for the Democratic nomination for state attorney general this year.

“We don’t know what would have happened, because it was in the dark, and the purpose is to get the best person,” he added, referring to recently passed legislation that allowed the search process to be exempted from the state’s public record laws. “We don’t know how this guy got selected.”

Administrators ended the event early, Seminera reported, in order “to allow protestors to express themselves.”