The students and faculty oppose him, but the Board of Trustees approved him.
If I were to paint a singular frame of the protest outside Emerson Alumni Hall Tuesday, the largest canvas wouldn’t work.
The painting would begin with me leaning against a tree in the center, surrounded by silver barricades triple zip-tied together. I stood, listening. Student chants to my right echoed feelings of being undervalued and ignored. To my left, security detail remained on the ledges, watching and laughing. In front of me, a bomb-sniffing dog received belly rubs from state troopers after it checked out a suspicious backpack left by the entrance. All while a room full of undemocratically chosen individuals talked about the incredible strides UF has made with money raised from alumni and for research inside a building “disruptive” protesters weren’t allowed to enter.
“Show me what democracy looks like. This is what democracy looks like.”
Two weeks after the first protests on Oct. 10, President Kent Fuchs sent an email that denounced the protests and announced the university will begin to enforce a segregation-era regulation that prohibits protests inside campus buildings. He even likened the invasion of Emerson Hall to the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, a violent attack at the Capitol building that left seven dead.
Only five members of the public were allowed into the meeting, excluding the 11 registered speakers who spoke during public comment, according to journalism professor Harrison Hove, who claimed seat number five. He tweeted that the rest of the seats available in the conference room were taken “by UF administrators and VIPs who did not wait in line and [were] given access to a side door.”
The maze of barricades and lines of police officers who stood tall with one hand on their gun certainly fulfilled their purpose. Only about 100 protesters, a fraction of the crowd at the first protest, showed up at 10 a.m.. Barricades forced them into a single-file line marching up and down a 50-foot stretch.
“No justice, no peace. You can’t suppress our speech.”
Around Emerson Hall stood countless state troopers and members of UFPD. While the security on the ground was stoic, about 10 officers on the outside ledges did not withhold their laughter directed at the protestors. They found a girl playing the trumpet to be especially funny.
Most of the protesters disbanded around 11:30 a.m., as the meeting sauntered on, an end nowhere in sight. Even with the organizers’ free water, it was way too hot to stay out in the direct sun.
While Sasse and board members tossed around many buzzwords, some of the most common were “technological disruption,” “AI‘,’ “West Palm Beach campus,” “one billion” and “top 5”. For what felt like years, I sat and listened about UF’s expansion to South Florida, its innovation in artificial intelligence and the unfathomable amount of money it has raised. Not present, however, was a sufficient discussion of students.
Students seemed to be boiled down to their financial contributions as alumni and the “big ideas” they generate. Objects, if you will. When asked how he will earn the student body’s confidence and trust, Sasse promised to invite people down at the “unit level” to discuss areas that are not working. We are not people, we are not students, we are “units.”
But when students were discussed, answers were vague.
When asked about his anti-Chinese views, prompted by his comments during a 2020 high school commencement speech that blamed China for the COVID-19 pandemic, he emphasized he’s not against China, but its Communist ruling party, and had previously said the comments were a lame attempt at making light of a bad situation.
One of the biggest things that stood out to me was Sasse’s inability to use the words gay, transgender or even the acronym “LGBT.”
Following the 2015 Supreme Court decision to legalize same-sex marriage, Obergefell v. Hodges, Sasse expressed disapproval and said “Marriage brings a wife and husband together, so their children can have a mom and a dad.” He also supported legislation that barred same-sex couples from becoming foster parents.
When asked how he will help maintain and expand inclusivity of students in the LGBT+ community, his face was one of a man who expected the question but couldn’t even seem to care. Board member Amanda Phalin and student body president Lauren Lemasters both asked about LGBT+ students, and similar responses were given to both. While his answers for much of the Q&A session, and the entirety of his career, were long winded, he chose to keep this one short – his record would be fairly indistinguishable to Fuchs’.
Lastly, he discussed taking a vow of “political celibacy” if he does become UF’s 13th president. He emphasized he would not make partisan decisions for the university nor would he make any personal political contributions. He also found it sad that we, as a society, reduce individuals to their opinions, and we should care about more collective issues like putting a stop to speeding on residential streets so children can play safely. Yes, he said enforcing speed limits in residential areas is more important and more impactful for a community than expanding gay rights, racial equality, gender equality, etc.
Tuesday’s meeting was a lot of things, but it certainly was not reassuring.
The board unanimously voted to nominate Sasse to be UF’s president-elect, barring approval from the Board of Governors.
If the process continues to go as expected, Sasse will move to Gainesville and fulfill the presidential role in early 2023. Student-led protests are expected to continue. I’m going to need more canvases.