TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Mutual admiration was the rule for Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson's listening session at the University of South Florida.

School provost Ralph Wilcox introduced the two-term senator as a "steadfast advocate for all Floridians." Nelson, best known for flying the space shuttle Columbia in January 1986, flattered the more than two dozen students present, saying they had a keen sense about people running for elected office. "You guys can usually smell out folks. You can spot a phony," he said.

Nelson collected their personal stories about the unbearable weight of student loans for a Senate speech days later on the need to keep the interest rate low. At the conclusion of the hour-plus session, he posed for photos with students.

Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.

Your access to unlimited BenefitsPRO content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.