Choice Of Ben Sasse For Univ. Of Florida Causes A Ruckus. What Do College Presidents Even Do?

Ben Sasse, a US Senator for Nebraska, with a PhD from Yale, and former president of Midland University in Nebraska, was named as the sole finalist in the search for the next University of Florida (UF) president. This has caused a ruckus, with faculty and students assailing the moderate Republican as homophobic and anti-UF. This all raises the question: What’s all the fuss about? What exactly do college presidents do, anyway?

Sasse is no stranger to the job. When he assumed the presidency at Midland University, the institution was “on the verge of bankruptcy”—three years later it was “one of the nation’s fastest-growing schools.” Now, Sasse has been unanimously selected by the university’s board of trustees as the next president of the University of Florida, a school with a total population of over 60,000 and that ranked as one of the nation’s top five public universities.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis cheered Sasse’s selection, saying, “As a successful former university president, national leader and deep thinker on education policy, Ben Sasse has the qualifications and would be a good candidate.”

Given Sasse’s credentials, political connections, and reputation as a relatively moderate Republican, observers might’ve expected Sasse to be well-received. Since the announcement, though, there’ve been a raft of politically charged complaints from faculty (though few have much to do with the president’s job in particular). Complaints have been lodged about Sasse’s views on same-sex marriage, gun control, and abortion. Indeed, just yesterday, the faculty senate passed a no-confidence resolution regarding Sasse’s appointment.

For all the furor, the reality is that presidents generally don’t have that much real authority to shape a major university. They’re constrained by a board of trustees, faculty governance, entrenched campus power centers, endowment rules, major donors, and sprawling bureaucracies.

The day-to-day of the job tends to be dominated by its ceremonial, political, and money-chasing dimensions, with the president responsible primarily for fundraising, forging relationships with public officials, and serving as the public face of the institution. If one wants to get comprehensive, the job also includes financial management, working with the governing board, and leading the executive team.

Once upon a time, things were different. A half-century ago, it was expected that college presidents would be public intellectuals. They wrote influential books, gave major speeches, and were seen as major national voices. Today, it’s safe to say that most Americans would have trouble naming a single university president. Moreover, presidents just don’t have much day-to-day influence over curriculum, hiring, or what gets taught. And, as should be obvious, their views on same-sex marriage, gun control, and abortion don’t have much impact on campus life.

Occasionally, there are presidents who break through the shackles. Perhaps the best contemporary example is Purdue University president Mitch Daniels, the former Republican governor of Indiana, who has led the university since 2013 and is currently wrapping up an extended tenure highlighted by a decade-long tuition freeze, a celebrated commitment to free inquiry, and a heightened national profile. Even under Daniels, though, whom many Republicans wanted to run against President Barack Obama in 2012, it’s noteworthy that the triumphs tended to be more about institutional stewardship than political leadership.

Just this week, reflecting on his tenure, Daniels said, “I’ve been very fortunate to have a board and a board relationship that I think has been very productive, constructive, and conducive to moving forward.” He mused, “Much of the difficulty in higher education traces to boards who abdicated their rightful responsibilities. I’ve never read the bylaws of a single institution, public, private, large [or] small, that didn’t make plain that the board of trustees is the ultimate authority over everything, including curriculum and all policies.”

Assuming his selection is made official, how much leeway the University of Florida’s board will ultimately grant Sasse and how effectively he’ll inhabit the presidency remains to be seen. With the support of a friendly board and a powerful governor (who seems likely to be resoundingly reelected in a few weeks), Sasse certainly could make some waves. After all, the polished senator is well-equipped to romance big donors and navigate the state’s Republican leadership. But, even if he does, his energies are more likely to be consumed to growing the institution, expanding its online offerings, elevating its profile, and raising funds than anything more obviously political. That’s the banal reality of the college presidency today.