University of Florida board of trustees to vote on Kent Fuchs as interim president

In the wake of University of Florida President Ben Sasse's announcement Thursday that he will resign effective July 31, the university's board of trustees was scheduled to meet late Tuesday afternoon to consider naming former President Kent Fuchs as Sasse's interim replacement.

According to an email from the university, Fuchs has agreed to serve in an interim roll effective Aug. 1. The board was scheduled to discuss the matter at 5:30 p.m.

Fuchs, who served as UF president from 2015 to 2023, is currently teaching an electrical engineering class in the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering after taking a one-year sabbatical.

Under Fuchs' leadership, UF surged to become a Top 5 public institution in the U.S. News and World Report rankings. However, his tenure was not without controversy, particularly when it came to state politics.

In 2021, the issue of academic freedom was pushed to the forefront after three UF professors were barred from providing testimony against Senate Bill 90, which critics said restricted voting rights. UF later created a task force that would make a recommendation on how UF should respond when UF employees seek approval to serve as an expert witness when the state of Florida is a party.

“It’s actually the most robust process to protect academic freedom around conflicts of interests,” Fuchs previously told The Sun.

And in 2022, House Bill 7, also known as the Individual Freedom bill, provided instruction on how race-related issues should be taught in classrooms and banned themes of critical race theory. Many at UF saw the law as an attack on academic freedom. Fuchs, however, said the school has found success upholding its missions despite the challenges.

According to Sasse, who was inaugurated as UF's 13th president in November 2023 nearly nine months after he started, his sudden resignation announcement was due to his wife's recent epilepsy diagnosis.

“My wife Melissa’s recent epilepsy diagnosis and a new batch of memory issues have been hard, but we’re facing it together,” Sasse said in a UF News release . “Our two wonderful daughters are in college, but our youngest is just turning 13. 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.

"I need to step back and rebuild more stable household systems for a time. I’m going to remain involved in serving our UF students — past, present, and future — but I need to walk arm-in-arm with my dearest friend more hours of every week.”

Sasse, during his short time at UF, also has seen his share of controversies. The selection of the former Republican U.S. senator for Nebraska received almost immediate backlash from the university community due to his anti-abortion stance and being accused of not supporting the LGBTQ community.

due to his previously stated anti-LGBTQ and anti-abortion views.

People also were upset with how the search for a new president unfolded, with Sasse being named the sole finalist after a months-long presidential search involving over 700 candidates. UF officials claimed no other finalist wanted to come forward unless they were chosen as the sole finalist.

Earlier this year, Sasse was lauded by Gov. Ron DeSantis for his handling of pro-Palestinian protests on UF's Plaza of the Americas. While many protests on university campuses across the country had escalated into violence, the protests at UF remained mostly calm. Nine protesters were arrested on April 29 after being asked to vacate the area, including one for spitting on a police officer.

“I want to thank the university here as well as all of our state universities for ensuring that we're going to maintain order,” DeSantis said a May press conference staged directly in front of protesters.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: University of Florida board of trustees to vote on Kent Fuchs as interim president