Nearly 100 students and faculty at the University of Florida who protested the hiring of conservative Ben Sasse as president showed up Monday on his first day on the job with a series of demands.
The protest was led by the UF Young Democratic Socialists of America chapter demonstrating against Sasse, who was a Republican U.S. Senator for Nebraska before accepting the UF position.
The Daily Caller, citing social media posts, said the group listed a series of demands, including market equity raises and a commitment toward advancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI).
"We are sick and tired of having our rights and freedoms set aflame, and this so-called president hasn’t even started work yet," the group said in an Instagram post. "Join us to demand better. We know a better campus is possible. But we MUST fight for it."
The group read its demands during the protest, the Caller reported, including for Sasse to protect professors' tenure. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has pressed to restructure tenure.
They also demanded that he commit "to non-compliance with targeted list-making activities (i.e, attempts to enforce HB7)."
DeSantis has asked public colleges and universities to submit reports on their spending of state-issued funding on DEI and Critical Race Theory (CRT) programming and data on the number of people they treated for "gender dysphoria."
But student Emily Sturge told the Daily Caller she wants Sasse to oppose taxpayer-funded DEI programs on campus.
"According to UF’s student newspaper … UF spent $5 million on diversity initiatives over the past year," she said. "I’d like to see Sasse redirect these funds to things like academic scholarships and updating classrooms. I hope Sasse brings change to the woke ideals taught in the classroom and stops the reckless spending by the university."
Students attempted to break into the meeting in October where Sasse, the only finalist for the job, was being interviewed. Faculty also gave him a vote of no confidence.
"This group of students … have been protesting since October," Sturge said, "their voices have been heard and it appears that the university is not going to bend the knee to them."
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