Ben Sasse Appears to Have Turned the University of Florida Into a Gravy Train for His Pals

Suppose you could say the former senator traded one swamp for another.

By Charles P. PiercePublished: Aug 13, 2024 4:54 PM EDT

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Back in the Before Times, Young Ben Sasse was the dauphin prince of the Promising Young Republicans who were going to bring the GOP back from the far reaches beyond sanity at some undefined point in the future. He was an Eddicator, the way Mike Lee was a Conztitooshunal Skolar and Paul Ryan was somehow more than a zombie-eyed granny starver. Members of the elite political media flocked to his side. He was as slick as a Siberian cowpath in the winter. He had this ability to create a kind of plasticine gravitas that so attracts Ivy League reporters who feel guilty that they haven’t spent more time in Omaha. He bragged about his kids reading Aristotle over their Pop-Tarts and, besides all that book-larnin’, they were learning about working the farm and all them good heartland values.

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Meanwhile, as El Caudillo del Mar-a-Lago assumed the presidency and everything started going to hell in a gold-plated handbasket, Young Ben Sasse was one of those insufferable Republicans in the Senate who were Deeply Troubled by the state of the nation but who were also a reliable vote for the president* most responsible for said state. When he left the Senate in 2022, he left a trail of banality two miles wide between Washington and Gainesville, Florida, where he became the president of the University of Florida until he, ahem, “abruptly retired.” And now, thanks to the intrepid staff of the University of Florida Alligator, we have found out why.

In his 17-month stint as UF president, Ben Sasse more than tripled his office’s spending, directing millions in university funds into secretive consulting contracts and high-paying positions for his GOP allies.

Sasse ballooned spending under the president’s office to $17.3 million in his first year in office—up from $5.6 million in former UF President Kent Fuchs’ last year, according to publicly available administrative budget data. 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.

Sasse’s consulting contracts have been kept largely under wraps, leaving the public in the dark about what the contracted firms did to earn their fees. The university also declined to clarify specific duties carried out by Sasse’s ex-Senate staff, several of whom were salaried as presidential advisers. The university said Sasse’s budget expansion went through the “appropriate approval process” but did not answer questions about how Sasse bankrolled his splurges, where the funds originated or who authorized the spending.

It seems that Young Ben Sasse turned UF into a gravy train for his former Senate staff and former staff from other Republican senators, as well as a deep pocket for a number of politically connected consulting firms, including, inevitably, McKinsey. Not that these Friends of Ben needed to trade their steaks at the Palm for crawfish at Mr. and Mrs. Crab in Gainesville. They all got to work remotely, flying to the university on the arm if need be.

All but one of Sasse’s political appointees worked for UF outside of Florida and commuted to Gainesville on the university’s dollar when needed—a move reflected in his office’s travel expenses. In Sasse’s first full fiscal year at the university’s helm, travel expenses for the president’s office soared to $633,000—over 20 times higher than Fuchs’ annual average of $28,000. Sasse spent more on travel in his 17 months at UF than Fuchs’ entire eight-year tenure.

The nickname for UF’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is “the Swamp.” So Young Ben Sasse, trading one swamp for another, discovered the fundamental truth of modern Trumpist politics: Somewhere out there, there’s a grift with your name on it.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5575432&forum_id=2/en-en/#47962604)

https://www.alligator.org/article/2024/08/sasse-s-spending-spree-former-uf-president-channeled-millions-to-gop-allies-secretive-contracts

Sasse’s spending spree: Former UF president channeled millions to GOP allies, secretive contracts

The former UF president tripled his office’s spending compared to predecessor

By Garrett Shanley August 12, 2024 | 11:24am EDT

Photo by Garrett Shanley | The Independent Florida Alligator

In his 17-month stint as UF president, Ben Sasse more than tripled his office’s spending, directing millions in university funds into secretive consulting contracts and high-paying positions for his GOP allies.

Sasse ballooned spending under the president’s office to $17.3 million in his first year in office — up from $5.6 million in former UF President Kent Fuchs’ last year, according to publicly available administrative budget data.

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.

Sasse’s consulting contracts have been kept largely under wraps, leaving the public in the dark about what the contracted firms did to earn their fees. The university also declined to clarify specific duties carried out by Sasse’s ex-Senate staff, several of whom were salaried as presidential advisers.

The university said Sasse’s budget expansion went through the “appropriate approval process” but did not answer questions about how Sasse bankrolled his splurges, where the funds originated or who authorized the spending.

Keeping friends close

Amid protests over his conservative track record as a Nebraska Republican senator, Sasse promised during his ascension to the UF presidency in Fall 2022 that he would divorce himself from partisan politics under what he called a vow of “political celibacy.”

But the senator-turned-university president quietly broke that promise in his 17-month term at the university’s helm, hiring six ex-Senate staffers and two former Republican officials to high-paying, remote jobs at the university.

Under Sasse’s administration, two of his former Senate staffers — Raymond Sass and James Wegmann — were among the highest-ranking and highest-paid officials at UF. Both worked remotely from the D.C. area, roughly 800 miles from UF’s main campus in Gainesville.

Sass, Sasse’s former Senate chief of staff, was UF’s vice president for innovation and partnerships — a position which didn’t exist under previous administrations. His starting salary at UF was $396,000, more than double the $181,677 he made on Capitol Hill.

Wegmann, Sasse’s former Senate communications director, is UF’s vice president of communications, a position he works remotely from his $725,000 home in Washington, D.C.

Salaried at $432,000, Wegmann replaced Steve Orlando, who made $270,000 a year in the position and had nearly 30 years of experience in media relations at UF before he was demoted to be Wegmann’s deputy.

The Alligator first reported on Wegmann and Sass’ appointments last October, but an additional four who followed Sasse from the Senate to the Swamp have gone unnoticed by the press.

Sasse appointed his former Senate press secretary, Taylor Sliva, as UF’s Assistant Vice President of Presidential Communications and Public Affairs, a new position. Sliva’s $232,000 salary made him the second-highest-paid employee in UF’s Office of Strategic Communications and Marketing, trailing only Wegmann.

The remaining three ex-Senate staffers — Raven Shirley, Kari Ridder and Kelicia Rice — served as presidential advisers to Sasse, though their specific duties remain unclear. Rice, Sasse’s Senate scheduler, is listed as a presidential adviser in UF’s salary directory but in practice remained as Sasse’s scheduler, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Sasse raised his former Senate staffs’ salaries at UF by an average of 44% compared to their Capitol Hill pay, contributing to a $4.3 million increase in presidential salary expenses over Fuchs’ last year in office.

Outside of his Senate staff, Sasse also tapped former Republican Tennessee Commissioner of Education Penny Schwinn as UF’s inaugural vice president of PK-12 and pre-bachelors programs. Schwinn, with a starting salary of $367,500, worked the newly-created position from her $1 million home in Nashville, Tennessee.

Additionally, Sasse hired Alice James Burns, former scheduler for Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC), as Director of Presidential Relations and Major Events. Burns, salaried at $205,000, also worked for UF outside of Florida.

Citing his wife’s recent epilepsy diagnosis, Sasse abruptly resigned from his post in July — leaving the future of his UF inner circle unclear. The university did not respond to questions about whether his political appointees were fired, non-renewed or resigned following his departure.

Fuchs, who began as interim president Aug. 1, kept a relatively small staff of less than 10, compared to Sasse who employed more than 30 in his office.

Jet-setting on UF’s dime

All but one of Sasse’s political appointees worked for UF outside of Florida and commuted to Gainesville on the university’s dollar when needed — a move reflected in his office’s travel expenses.

In Sasse’s first full fiscal year at the university’s helm, travel expenses for the president’s office soared to $633,000 — over 20 times higher than Fuchs’ annual average of $28,000. Sasse spent more on travel in his 17 months at UF than Fuchs’ entire eight-year tenure.

It is not unprecedented for UF employees to work outside of Florida, but out-of-state positions have typically been reserved for those representing the university as federal lobbyists in its Washington, D.C. office. It is virtually unprecedented for top UF officials and rank-and-file administrators to work outside of Florida.

The university hasn’t responded to requests for a complete log of Sasse’s travel expenses, leaving it unclear how much of his sky-high travel expenditures were spent shuttling his remote hires to campus. A partial report shows Sasse spent over $20,000 between April 29 and July 29 to fly his employees to campus.

Taylor Sliva, Sasse’s press secretary, was the only one of Sasse’s political hires to work in Florida. His employment contract, obtained from a public records request, included a $15,000 relocation stipend. He currently rents out a house in Gainesville.

McKinsey comes to the Swamp

When Sasse took over UF in February 2023, he knew he’d need a hand.

His track record in higher education administration was limited to his five-year presidency at Midland University, a small, private liberal arts college in Fremont, Nebraska. At UF, which enrolls over 60,000 students and pulls in an annual $1 billion in research grants, Sasse faced a steep learning curve.

He turned to consultants for help.

During his presidency, Sasse spent $7.2 million in university funds to consultants for advice on his strategic planning and to fill leadership gaps — over 40 times more than Fuchs’ total consulting expenses over his eight-year term.

Sasse paid nearly two-thirds of the $7.2 million to McKinsey & Company, where he once worked as an adviser on an hourly contract. The firm carries prestige as one of the “big three” management consulting giants, but is notoriously secretive about its dealings and shielded its work from public view using records laws protecting trade secrets.

A critical “scope of work” attachment, which would outline McKinsey's responsibilities to UF, was redacted from a copy of the contract obtained from a public records request. The redaction, permissible under state public records laws, makes it virtually impossible for the public to know what the firm did to earn its fees.

A UF spokesperson said McKinsey was using data analysis to help Sasse build his strategic plan, but the university hasn’t disclosed further details about its $4.7 million contract with the firm since The Alligator first reported its existence last August. Public records requests for any reports, presentations and data produced under the contract have yielded no responsive documents.

Sasse offered the only public glimpse of McKinsey’s work at UF last fall during “roadshows” of his strategic plan. Accompanied by slides displaying “sobriety data” provided by McKinsey, Sasse argued some faculty weren’t pulling their weight and had “quiet retired.”

One slide showed only 10% of research faculty drove 39% of research awards on campus. Another showed in one unidentified 47-person department, only 13 were engaged in research.

In two roadshows that were open to the press, Sasse skipped over a slide that sparked controversy after the Alligator reported on anonymous faculty accounts of previous presentations. The slide suggested reducing UF's total number of departments from 200 to an ideal number of 140.

Beyond the $4.7 million contract, Sasse payrolled three former McKinsey consultants as full-time employees in his office, with salaries ranging from $150,000 to $200,000, according to university records.

It remains unknown who Sasse paid the remaining $2.5 million in consulting expenses to. Public records requests for the president’s consulting contracts were not fulfilled in time for publication.

McKinsey’s contract allowed for UF to pay additional fees for consulting services until February 2025. The university has gone months without responding to public records requests for invoices related to the contract.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5575432&forum_id=2/en-en/#47964357)