Former UF President Ben Sasse defends spending after Gov. DeSantis raises concerns

Former University of Florida President Ben Sasse on Friday disputed allegations of “inappropriate spending” following reports that spending by the president’s office more than tripled after he took over as leader of the state’s flagship university.

Sasse, who abruptly resigned from the post in July, issued a defense of his leadership in a 1,745-word message on social media, one day after Gov. Ron DeSantis and state Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis suggested expenditures should be probed.

“Many have asked whether it’s true if UF over the last couple years had inappropriate spending. No, it’s not true — but it is a duty to transparently address folks’ concerns, both because fiscal stewardship is a fundamental obligation of public institutions – and also because our alumni, donors, and hardworking taxpayers should be confident that such stewardship and oversight have been and are being exercised. They are,” Sasse, a former Nebraska U.S. senator hired by UF in November 2022, said Friday in a post on X.

Sasse’s lengthy missive capped a tumultuous week that began Monday when the Independent Florida Alligator student newspaper reported on spending by the president’s office during his relatively short tenure.

According to the report, Sasse more than tripled his office’s spending to $17.3 million when compared to his predecessor. The costs included hiring several of his former U.S. Senate staffers, including two who were allowed to work remotely from the Washington, D.C., area. Travel costs for Sasse’s office also jumped from $28,000 to $633,000 in one year, according to the student newspaper.

Sasse said in Friday’s social-media post he was “dang proud” of new initiatives run out of the president’s office, aggressively defending what he called his “‘go bigger’ approach” and efforts to establish “new initiatives” at the school.

“Does everyone agree on the benefit-calculus of each of these initiatives, or on the pacing and priority-ranking among them? Of course not — and that is fine. Thoughtful Floridians and Americans should be arguing more, not less, about big initiatives and big academic reforms — debate is healthy. But what is unhealthy is pretending that having reformers at the helm of a prestigious university would somehow not be … disruptive,” wrote Sasse, who cited his wife’s health last month when he announced he was stepping down.

The state university system’s Board of Governors on Friday issued a statement saying the Florida auditor general’s office “is conducting a regularly scheduled audit” at the university.

“The state auditor general’s office notified UF’s chief audit executive that the scope of the audit will encompass Office of the President expenditures. The Florida Board of Governors will await the final report,” the statement said.

A spokesman for DeSantis on Thursday issued a statement saying the governor’s office takes “the stewardship of state funds very seriously” and had “already been in discussions with leadership at the university and with the Board of Governors to look into the matter.”

Earlier Thursday, Patronis offered support for an audit. “Reports of (the university’s) exorbitant spending by Ben Sasse’s office are concerning,” Patronis posted online.

Sasse on Friday did not shrink from the scrutiny, saying his budget underwent the “appropriate approval process.”

“I want to be clear: I welcome both a debate about the merits of these reform initiatives, and an audit of UF’s expenditures. Any $9 billion enterprise should always be finding ways to tighten its belt … but I am confident that the expenditures under discussion were proper and appropriate — and that the folks responsible for oversight were faithful in their work,” he wrote.

Sasse also noted that audits of the university did not flag spending issues and that UF Board of Trustees “extended me full severance and an ongoing role with the university until at least 2028, suggesting no concerns on their part.”

Sasse’s five-year contract, approved by the board in 2022, included a $1 million base salary, with annual performance bonuses of up to 15 percent. His contract included a $1 million payout if he served the full five-year term.

Sasse, who left the Senate to become the university’s president, is listed on UF’s website as president emeritus and a professor at the school’s Hamilton Center, which he repeatedly praised in Friday’s social-media post.

Likening himself to “basically all arriving CEOs,” Sasse acknowledged that he hired “almost a dozen folks” who had previously worked with him “both in and out of politics,” and indicated that his plans had the go-ahead from UF leaders.

“One of my preconditions in agreeing to accept this calling was being able to bring big-cause, trusted people from my last few teams along to help build a stronger, more dynamic UF – and happily, the board and (presidential) selection committee embraced this,” his post said.

The Independent Florida Alligator’s story Monday detailed Sasse’s hiring of a number of staffers earning hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, including some who worked from out of state.

Some of Sasse’s hires filled new positions that didn’t exist before his presidency.

“A majority of the spending surge was driven by lucrative contracts with big-name consulting firms and high-salaried, remote positions for Sasse’s former U.S. Senate staff and Republican officials,” the Independent Florida Alligator story said.

Sasse blamed the university’s silence about the report for “confusion and a bunch of speculation” but acknowledged “it is true that there was substantial funding for a number of important new initiatives.”

Sasse’s defense met some pushback. Prominent trial lawyer John Morgan this week said on X that he had donated $1 million to UF and planned on a larger gift but was rethinking his support following reports of Sasse’s spending.

“Full severance until 2028!!!!!! I will never donate another penny to my alma mater. This

@UF board must meet at the Bada Bing club. Except Tony Soprano would not be so bold. It's gross!” Morgan said Friday in a post on X.

The school’s trustees last month tapped former President Kent Fuchs to lead the school on an interim basis.