Sasse resigning as UF president as family grapples with health issue

TALLAHASSEE, Florida — University of Florida President Ben Sasse is resigning on July 31, in a surprise move announced Thursday evening by the former Republican senator from Nebraska.

Sasse, who has led UF for nearly two years as a highly touted hire heralded by the university and state, is stepping down to spend more time with his family. In a message to UF, Sasse said that his wife, Melissa, was recently diagnosed with epilepsy and has been “struggling with a new batch of memory issues” that made him reconsider his position atop Florida’s flagship university.

“Gator Nation needs a president who can keep charging hard, Melissa deserves a husband who can pull his weight, and my kids need a dad who can be home many more nights,” Sasse said in a statement . “I need to step back and rebuild more stable household systems for a time.”

UF hired Sasse in November 2022 after a nationwide search, drawing criticism from students and faculty at the time who urged the school to choose an academic, not a politician, for the role. But the choice was seen as a boon by UF officials for illustrating that the school could attract a sitting U.S. senator to be its president.

Sasse gave the University of Florida a new conservative leader as the state GOP took up a fight against the perceived liberal bias in higher education. He joined several other former Republican lawmakers to take on leadership roles in Florida's public higher education system, including former state Senate President John Thrasher, who led Florida State University before retiring in 2021, and former state Sen. Ray Rodrigues, who is currently serving as chancellor of the state university system.

Earlier this year, UF under Sasse closed the Chief Diversity Officer’s office, scrapped other jobs and “halted DEI-focused” vendor contracts in a wave of actions responding to higher education reforms backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republicans in the state who are targeting “wokeness” and liberal “indoctrination” in Florida’s university system.

Recently, Sasse scored praise from top state officials, including DeSantis and Rodrigues, for keeping a hard line against to pro-Palestinian protests that spread over college campuses due to the Israel-Hamas war.

"I don’t believe any president in the country handled the aftermath of Oct. 7 better than President Sasse did at UF and he did Florida proud," Rodrigues told POLITICO Thursday night. "And we’re sorry he’s stepping down but applaud him for putting his family first."

State officials such as Alan Levine, a UF alumnus and vice chair of the Board of Governors over the state university system, said they were “devastated” by the Sasse’s resignation.

“I respect and admire him for putting her first,” Levine told POLITICO after Sasse's announcement.

“It’s obviously going to be a big jolt to the university community,” said Levine, who added that Sasse had a made a “big difference” in the short time he had been in the job.

UF trustees are expected to appoint an interim president in the coming days and will eventually launch a new presidential search, although there’s no timeline as of yet.

Sasse said that his family is staying in Gainesville, where he will continue to teach classes at UF.

Gary Fineout contributed to this report.