Moments after Ben Sasse walked off the Senate floor, my business partner asked him if things were busy at the Capitol. He quickly replied, with a rueful smile, “always busy, rarely effective.”
It’s a phrase that stuck with me, and probably a big part of why Ben left a career in politics to run The University of Florida. I know from several conversations with him that he’d grown frustrated with the political machine and yearned to do something meaningful with his considerable talents. Something that could truly move the country in a positive direction. Well, mission accomplished. Ben Sasse has just demonstrated how to save America’s Universities. Consider this from the attached article.
“To cherish the First Amendment rights of speech and assembly, we draw a hard line at unlawful action. Speech isn’t violence. Silence isn’t violence. Violence is violence. Just as we have an obligation to protect speech, we have an obligation to keep our students safe. Throwing fists, storming buildings, vandalizing property, spitting on cops and hijacking a university aren’t speech.”
And this…
“Appeasing mobs emboldens agitators elsewhere. Moving classes online is a retreat that penalizes students and rewards protesters. Participating in live-streamed struggle sessions doesn’t promote honest, good-faith discussion. Universities need to be strong defenders of the entire community, including students in the library on the eve of an exam, and stewards of our fundamental educational mission.”
And finally, this, in response to criticism that he unfairly arrested violent protestors and thrown them out of school.
“We said it. We meant it. We enforced it. We wish we didn’t have to, but the students weighed the costs, made their decisions, and will own the consequences as adults. We’re a university, not a daycare. We don’t coddle emotions, we wrestle with ideas.”
Ben Sasse is still as busy as he’s ever been. But now, he’s effective. Actually, he’s more than effective. He’s the right man, in the right place, doing the right thing, at exactly the right time. A leader, in other words. And a true role-model.
I wish to God he was calling the shots at every university in the country.