Ben Sasse, America's best university president

Until a week ago, I'm betting that few Americans knew who Ben Sasse was. I'm confident that less than one-third of Americans knew that he was a US. senator representing Nebraska. After the start of the pro-Palestinian 'protests' started, it didn't take long for people to learn that he's the best university president in the U.S. This morning, President Sasse's WSJ op-ed shines a bright light that the adults are in charge at the University of Florida.

I suspect that parents, students and employers are taking notice of his op-ed. In his op-ed, he wrote this indisputable truth:

First, universities must distinguish between speech and action. Speech is central to education. We’re in the business of discovering knowledge and then passing it, both newly learned and time-tested, to the next generation. To do that, we need to foster an environment of free thought in which ideas can be picked apart and put back together, again and again. The heckler gets no veto. The best arguments deserve the best counterarguments.

It doesn't require a Ph.D. to understand that "universities aren't daycare":

No-nonsense adult in charge

Second, universities must say what they mean and then do what they say. Empty threats make everything worse. Any parent who has endured a 2-year-old’s tantrum gets this. You can’t say, "Don’t make me come up there" if you aren’t willing to walk up the stairs and enforce the rules. You don’t make a threat until you’ve decided to follow through if necessary. In the same way, universities make things worse with halfhearted appeals to abide by existing policies and then immediately negotiating with 20-year-old toddlers.

UF's rules are straightforward and reasonable. Thus far, President Sasse has enforced the laws consistently and without hesistation. That's called leadership. At Ivy League universities, that's considered 'virtually nonexistent.' In Florida, that's what's expected.

Leadership in action

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.

Isn't it amazing what happens when adults act like adults? Isn't it astonishing what happens when rules are enforced and troublemakers are punisheddf? Next, think the unthinkable

Next, think what Columbia or Harvard would look like if their presidents had spines like President Sasse's. I know that's pushing it but just give it a try. Let's finish with this:

Young men and women with little grasp of geography or history—even recent events like the Palestinians’ rejection of President Clinton’s offer of a two-state solution—wade into geopolitics with bumper-sticker slogans they don’t understand. For a lonely subset of the anxious generation, these protest camps can become a place to find a rare taste of community. This is their stage to role-play revolution. Posting about your "allergen-free" tent on the quad is a lot easier than doing real work to uplift the downtrodden.

How many parents wish their kids' universities were run by people with this type of character? How many corporate executives wish they could consistently hire from well-disciplined talent pools like that? That's worth putting some thought into, isn't it?