The paper of record mischaracterizes recent efforts to reform Florida’s flagship state university.
The paper of record mischaracterizes recent efforts to reform Florida’s flagship state university.
E arlier this month, the New York Times published a story critiquing Ben Sasse’s tenure as the University of Florida president and framing the school’s attempt to climb the U.S. News and World Report rankings as fraught with internal discord. The piece offers some interesting insights into the internal dynamics of the university, but it gets three key points wrong. First, the internal debate at Florida is healthy, natural, and productive as the school tries to secure a relatively unique role in academia. Second, doubting that the primary reason behind Sasse’s resignation was his wife’s declining health should require more substantive evidence. Third, even taken on its own terms, the piece examines too narrow a timeframe. While the Times describes recent minor drops in Florida’s rankings as “embarrassing,” a broader perspective reveals significant progress over the past decade.
Concerning Sasse, it is clear that he and other administrators did not always see eye-to-eye. Sasse did not share the fixation with rankings that had been part of the school’s strategy since 2017. As Sasse reportedly argued, the methodology can change (and last year, it did, perhaps explaining Florida’s drop). Sasse also certainly took an unconventional approach to his job, bringing in some of the staff from his Senate office who had little experience in higher education, but given the state of higher education today, perhaps a shake-up is just what’s needed.
In fact, what was happening at Florida should be happening at many more universities. Both Sasse and those focused on raising the school’s ranking are thinking deeply about what they want the University of Florida to be and are striving to make the school elite. The tensions are about what it means to be elite and how the school can best position itself for success. It makes sense that Sasse, whose prior higher education experience came running Midland University, a 1,600-student Christian school in Nebraska, not a colossal university aspiring to compete with Berkeley and Michigan as America’s top public school, cares less about rankings. Sasse has a point. As I’ve argued in the past, the U.S. News and World Report rankings have notable shortcomings, particularly with the new methodology. But it’s also understandable for Florida to want recognition as it seeks to become a leader in returning the university to its true mission of pursuing knowledge rather than serving as a left-wing echo chamber. Florida’s attempt to navigate what it truly means to be an elite university is part of a healthy discourse that should be happening across the nation.
Additionally, it is worth reiterating that the Times’s attempt to cast doubt on Sasse’s resignation being about his wife’s health belongs on the editorial page given its speculative nature. It seems unlikely a little tension with other administrators pushed him away, but even if it did, the Times does not provide enough evidence to link the two causally. It’s difficult to imagine the Times publishing similar speculation about a former Democratic senator’s statements on his spouse’s health, let alone using it as the article’s headline.
Now, let’s put Sasse’s opposition aside for the moment and accept the proposition that the rankings have value. Ten years ago, the University of Florida was ranked 49th, and its law school was ranked 46th. Today, the university is ranked 30th, and the law school is ranked 28th. While the law school has seen slight regression over the last two years and the university recently fell out of the top five public schools, when one zooms out, it’s hard to call this “embarrassing,” even if there is still more work to be done. With promising initiatives like The Hamilton Center, which bases its curriculum around Western Civilization and a free society, and students’ increasing desire to attend southern schools, Florida should be able to climb again, particularly if it chooses to recalibrate around the new ranking methodology.
The fact that Florida is having these conversations is good and healthy, but the Times makes it out as a problem bordering on a scandal. Rather than worry about outside criticism, Florida should remain focused on its mission, seeking truth and excellence. More universities would do well to follow its lead.