Ellie

@BenSasse 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻You've got this. #FamilyFirst

Dear Gator Nation and cherished friends, This isn’t an easy note to write but wanted to give you an update on our family. As many of you know, my wife Melissa suffered an aneurysm and series of strokes in 2007. Back then, the docs prepared us for the worst, but – in God’s providence – she made an incredible comeback. In the years since – from Nebraska to DC to Florida – she kept our family grounded while I missed too many family dinners, little league games, hugs, and tears. She’s the strongest person I know. We’ve battled some nasty seizures the last couple years, but she’s always remained a warrior. In recent months, Melissa has been diagnosed with epilepsy and has been struggling with a new batch of memory issues. It’s been hard, but we’ve faced it together. A lot of late nights, a lot of hard decisions, and a lotta “what matters most?” conversations. Our two wonderful daughters are in college, but our youngest is just turning 13. I’ve got two spectacular callings in life right now: First, I’m a husband and dad. Second, I’ve been blessed to serve as president of the best dang public university in America – Go Gators! – and I’ve loved the challenge of giving this university everything I’ve got. But here’s the bottom line: Those callings are significantly at odds with each other right now. Gator Nation needs a president who can keep charging hard, Melissa deserves a husband who can pull his weight, and my kids need a dad who can be home many more nights. After extensive prayer and lots of family tears, I today asked UF Chair Mori Hosseini and our Board of Trustees to initiate a search for a new president of the university. I need to step back for a time and focus more on the needs of my family while we rebuild more stable household systems. I’m going to remain involved in serving our UF students — past, present, and future — but I need to walk arm-in-arm with my dearest friend more hours of every week. I’m grateful for our board’s support. Mori and the board have giant hearts – for this university and for this community. It’s easy to see why. I’m grateful for you, Gator Nation. You’ve welcomed our family with open arms. Professors who change the world, students who pack the Swamp, men and women who do the unsung work of keeping a big place like this rolling (shout out to the third-shift maintenance crews, the early morning cafeteria workers, and the Ben Hill Griffin cleanup team). We love you. You touched our hearts and made this more than a job – you made it our community. That’s why we’re not going anywhere. Our family is staying here in Gainesville. I’ll be here as President Emeritus and professor, continuing to teach classes. It's great to be a Florida Gator! … It’s even greater to be a husband and a dad. With love and gratitude, Ben news.ufl.edu/2024/07/sasse-…

@JoeBiden “The secret of the demagogue is to make himself as stupid as his audience so that they believe they are as clever as he.” ~ Karl Kraus (1874-1936), journalist, critic and satirist

Wow! 🔥🔥🔥 I wish every American could see this. Make it happen, folks!

Good question, @nytimes !! Hey, now that President have so much immunity journalist will have to work doubly hard to investigate and make known the character of each candidate---as democracy in the US depends on it. Do your job, @NYT, @cnn @washingtonpost

@WalshFreedom again, really disappointed with your us versus them, college kids are entitled wealthy elites trope.

Most Americans don’t go to college. Most Americans works their butts off Monday through Friday every week just to provide for themselves & their families. Most Americans support any American peacefully protesting, but most Americans do not support entitled, wealthy college kids destroying college property, inciting violence, & bad-mouthing America. And most Americans, if the violence & unrest continues to get out of hand, will vote for law and order. And vote against Democrats. This is an inflection point. Joe Biden really needs to speak to the country and condemn this rioting. Praise peaceful protesting, but condemn this. If he doesn’t, most Americans will vote for someone else.

@WalshFreedom Are you serious, you believe anyone who went to college is not a part of people who work Monday-Friday? I’ll begin with the obvious group teachers, nurses, doctors.. you need to expand your circle, you need to be better informed.

@WalshFreedom I absolutely agree. Take UCLA, college kids don’t come with zip ties, helmets and shields. There is manipulating being done behind the scenes and funding for these “protests” to hurt Biden. I would put money on right wing groups being involved in this.

@WalshFreedom I know a lot of people that went/go to college who are not entitled wealthy kids. I also know from the reports that there were non student agitators at the colleges. I can tell you from experience that I worked my butt off in my “office” job sometimes w/10-12 hour days. No OT pay

@chrisreedfilm @WalshFreedom Thank you!

@WalshFreedom It always amazes me that the people who never went to college and then grow to loathe the educated are soooooo worried about what happens on college campuses. Why? Mind your own business.

@WalshFreedom Democrats want law and order that’s why they want ALL January 6 criminals to be held accountable including TRAITOR TRUMP. The one who is not holding anyone accountable is garland.

@WalshFreedom Also get over this idea that every bad deed needs to be condemned by the president. He’s not the president of every university, he’s not the chief of every police station. What ever happened to the party of limited small gov?

@WalshFreedom Most of the protesters are not college students. Look at the arrests across multiple states... 2/3 don't attend the colleges they're protesting at. Bad actors are infiltrating & question should be, who's behind it?

@WalshFreedom Because most Americans felt safer with Repubs law & order system?? Really.. Besides, most ppl are smart enough to know nobody is perfect, including parties. To switch party bcoz of dissatisfaction with conducts/choice is immature. I don’t agree with everything but I am still Dem

@Kamifi45 @WalshFreedom no one, I know personally felt safer with Trump as president. Certainly young woman today do not feel safer with Republicans since they have fewer rights than I did growing up.

@WalshFreedom Original protests taken over by pro-agitators with chaos agendas to the point they don’t resemble the original protest other than the name they stole. It’s rinse and repeat.

@WalshFreedom Most kids who go to college are not entitled and will spend decades paying off their student loans. I do not support the current protests but support their right to do so.

@WalshFreedom It's turned out most of these protestors were professional antagonists. I would not be surprised if GOP DONORS funded then, especially those DESPERATE for Trump to be President again because they fear if the Dems win, the top tax rate will go back to the 70% it was under Carter.

@WalshFreedom Why are you blaming Biden for these riots? I cannot hear you until you try different approach. Republicans have been blaming Biden for everything the @GOP has caused. Obviously you haven’t left the party like you say you have. Quit blaming Biden.

It's ture most Americans don't go to college because they cbat afford it. And it's also very true that most Americans work their butts off Monday to Friday to make ends meet and pay their taxes. Their taxes go to the zionist state of Israel so that ITS citizens can have free education for their kids and free healthcare for their families, while those Americans who worked their butts off Monday to Friday all their lives don't have the same priviliages. Hard working American families didn't know how their tax money is being spent. Now they do.