University of Florida President Ben Sasse met with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) at the University of Florida on Wednesday and made it clear that the university will not tolerate unruly pro-Hamas, anti-Israel demonstrators who break rules. . They emphasized that they stand with the Jewish community.
In his speech, Professor Sasse offered “four simple messages,” starting with telling bill-paying Floridians that “the University of Florida will always protect the rights of speech and assembly, and we will always follow the law.”
“Too much higher education has been captured by a lot of nonsense in recent weeks, but that will not happen at the University of Florida,” he assured taxpayers.
Sasse thanked law enforcement officers for “keeping the situation calm” and stressed that their goal was “not to make arrests.”
“The purpose was to help people comply with the law. And what you did while being spat at and yelled at with profanity was amazing. We “The professionalism of our law enforcement agencies has become an example to many people across the country,” he said, sending a message to protesters.
“You’ve heard us say this many times. You have a constitutional right to protest, and we will protect it. But if you cross the line of prohibited conduct, Those who do so will face the consequences.”
“This is a big university, and not everyone will agree. There are 86,000 souls on this campus, and we will treat each other with respect,” he said, adding that no one is participating in illegal protests. The graduation ceremony was not, and is not currently, being disrupted by anyone.
“There aren’t a lot of angry people at the University of Florida. When we were able to have our graduation ceremony last week, it was amazing to see so many mothers with tears streaming down their cheeks. I am especially grateful to the tenacity and professionalism of our nation’s law enforcement agencies,” he said before giving a final message to the Jewish students.
“The university is proud to be the university with the most Jewish students in the nation. We are the most Jewish university in the country, and it’s great to be a Jewish Gator.” Sasse said.
“I want my students to feel safe. But more than any subjective feeling, I want them to be safe. And that remains true today, as we are excited to see you. I’m happy and excited to celebrate a big future together. Go Gators,” he added.
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🐊University of Florida President Dr. Ben Sasse:
There are four simple messages.
First, to all the Floridians who pay our bills: The University of Florida will always protect the rights of speech and assembly, and we will always follow the law. Too much higher education… pic.twitter.com/sDuuR4TyzY
— Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) May 8, 2024
DeSantis’ remarks came shortly after the university quelled the attempted encampment, which DeSantis said lasted only a few minutes. Sasse also issued a statement at the time following the arrests of unruly protesters, saying in part: If they follow the rules, they will face the consequences. ”
Speaking at the same event, DeSantis pointed out that such protests and anger were conveniently not heard on campus after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, and mocked protesters chanting in the background.
“I think all the protesters were very angry about the fact that Hamas had invaded Israeli communities, burned babies in ovens, raped women, and assassinated elderly people in very brutal ways. “DeSantis said. Said.
“I think they were very angry about that, but no, they weren’t. Yeah, they didn’t care about that. They were totally fine with the massacre happening, and they didn’t. I didn’t have any concerns about it,” he said, contrasting how the Florida university handled the protests compared to other universities, such as Columbia University.
Related Video — Insane! Protesters at Columbia University break windows and barricade themselves inside the building:
Jessica Schwalb, Storyful
“If you look around the country, there are a lot of elite universities that are rife with encampments and graffiti and really bad anti-Semitism,” DeSantis said. “In Colombia, pro-Hamas activists stormed buildings and destroyed cleaning staff. At UCLA, Jewish students were barred from campus buildings by pro-Hamas activists who weren’t even students there. Libraries were taken over by vagrants and then trashed. And you see some of the chants going on in these universities, like “From the River to the Sea.” Some people say, “I don’t need it, I accept everything.” That said, sometimes people can say what they want, but when you’re talking about River to Sea, you’re essentially saying, “We want a second Holocaust, we want that.” It’s the same as being there. Wipe Israel from the map. And that is what Hamas represents. ”
