Senator Ben Sasse explains to John McCormack why he is likely to resign from the U.S. Senate to become president of the University of Florida. This news makes perfect sense to me.
Several years ago, I wrote a column puzzling over why Sasse wanted to be in the Senate in the first place. Undeniably intelligent and thoughtful, Sasse spent much of his time as a lawmaker writing books, complaining about the vapidity of Washington, D.C., and mocking the uselessness of the Senate. He appeared to have little interest in actually advancing legislation. As I put it back in 2018:
I think Sasse would make an excellent college professor, which his Ph.D. and previous experience as a university president would qualify him for. I’d be happy to listen to a “Great Courses” lecture series on American history delivered by Sasse. It also seems that he’d be quite at home studying his various pet issues at a think tank. I just really, really, don’t understand why he wants to be in the Senate.
So, the fact that he is ready to jump at the opportunity to run one of the largest universities in the country is no surprise.
Should the University of Florida gig come through, I eagerly await the type of changes Sasse could bring. Higher education is desperately in need of reforming, and there is a big opportunity for somebody to find innovative ways to make college degrees more practical and to encourage a thriving intellectual environment that exposes students to a diversity of viewpoints and allows speech to thrive.
Good luck to him.