Tipsheet

University of Florida President Shows How It's Done With Statement on Hamas and Israel

Guy Benson
Guy Benson  |  October 12, 2023 10:05 AM

Our post yesterday was deservedly harsh toward the absolute cowards -- or worse -- running many of our country's institutions of higher learning.  The moral rot is widespread, and it's bleeding into lower levels of education, as well.  This should not come as a surprise, unfortunately, given the increased levels radical politicization of grade school education in this country.  It's also important to acknowledge and appreciate those who do the right thing -- rejecting equivocation, relativism, amoral both-sidesism, and gutless silence. One example is at BYU, where the administration lowered flags to half staff, in mourning and solidarity with Israel:

Another stand-out is the University of Florida and its president, former US Senator Ben Sasse, whose appointment was met with a freakout on the intolerant Left.  This is how it's done:

In the face of unspeakable violence, we ought to start by telling the truth. Here is the truth: The world has just witnessed the largest slaughter of Jewish people since the Holocaust. The videos are gut-wrenching. Stories make your stomach churn. Hundreds of innocent civilians are dead. Toddlers, teens, and grandparents have been taken hostage. Young women have suffered violence too terrible to speak. Families have been burned alive while hiding in their homes. Bodies have been mutilated as terrorists laugh and hand out candy in celebration of evil. Hamas’ terror attacks are heinous and deserve the condemnation of civilized people around the world. Like you, Melissa and I are grieving and angry. Here’s another truth: human life matters. Human dignity matters. This is a truth that we here embrace, and a truth that the terrorists of Hamas reject. We are committed to that truth. We draw our strength and inspiration from that truth.

Like so many Gators, Melissa and I are praying. We pray for the families of the dead. We pray for the victims who are in hospitals still fighting for their lives. We pray for the victims who are still held hostage. We pray for peace in an uncertain and dangerous world. This is a fallen world. When evil raises its head, as it has in recent days, it is up to men and women of conscience and courage to draw strength from truth and commit themselves to the work of building something better – to the work of pursuing justice and peace. The University of Florida is home to the largest number of Jewish students at any university in this country. We are proud of that legacy. We have Jewish alumni around the country and world who are also devastated by this terror. As a community — the Gator community — we stand by you.

There was a disruption at the end of the vigil, which Sasse addressed in a subsequent statement:

The exact right tone, including the bit about protecting the free speech of people who insist on making "abject idiots of themselves," and ending with a firm commitment to keep Jewish members of the community physically safe. "Speech is protected. Violence and vandalism are not."  Take notes, cowering administrators elsewhere.  Abhorrent degeneracy must be condemned.  Just look at these monsters:

I asked if officials at the University of Wisconsin would say anything about the "glory to the murders"/"glory to the martyrs" (same message, regardless of which word was being screamed) chanting on campus.  To their credit, they put out a pretty good statement -- far better than the empty, tepid nonsense from some, or the outright silence from others.  Including at my own school.  This is a disgrace, especially considering Northwestern's penchant for making constant institutional statements about all sorts of national and geopolitical controversies:

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The time for choosing is now, and the moral calculus should remotely difficult: