Introducing President Sasse’s transition team

Team includes UF officials, U.S. Senate employees and Midland University staff

By Garrett Shanley Alligator Staff Writer

As UF President Ben Sasse transitions from politician to university president, he has maintained his relationships with key officials from his office in the U.S. Senate.

Sasse’s transition team includes members of the presidential cabinet and staff, the UF Board of Trustees, members of Sasse’s office in the U.S. Senate and ex-Midland University officials.

An informal member list of Sasse’s transition team was re- vealed in a public records request obtained by The Alligator.

“Like every College President and CEO, Ben has a ton of advisors and mentors in his kitchen cabinet — about two dozen college presidents and big brains on everything from finance and technology to national security and law,” the UF Public Records Request Center wrote in the letter.

Several members of Sasse’s transition team have no prior affiliation with UF, namely Raymond Sass, James Wegmann and Toby Stock.

“Ray and James worked with Sasse in the Senate [and] have been working as presidential advisors in Tigert Hall since February,” the public records center wrote. Both worked for Sasse until his resignation from the U.S. Senate in January 2023.

James Wegmann

Wegmann joined Sasse’s team as press secretary in 2015 and became communications director in January 2016.

Raymond Sass

Sass acted as Sasse’s chief of staff from 2017 until his resignation from the Senate in January 2023. Additionally, Sass acted as the dean of the MBA Program and vice president for strategy at Midland University from 2011 to 2014 while Sasse was university president.

Toby Stock Stock currently acts as the chief strategy officer for the National Constitution Center, a private, nonprofit organization that “serves as America’s leading platform for con- stitutional education and debate,” according to their official website.

Stock has held executive positions in several conservative organizations, including the American Enterprise Institute, a center-right public policy think tank based in Washington D.C.

He is the co-founder and former president of The Dispatch, an online magazine dedicated to “factbased reporting and commentary, informed by conservative principles.”

“Toby was formerly the Harvard Law School Assistant Dean for Admissions and, given his experience in higher education and philanthropy, has been advising in the Foundation since March,” the public records center wrote.

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