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The stunning campus has been a haven for progressive thinking curriculums, in a deeply conservative county, for the past 60 years. According to Reps, that’s about to change
The gorgeous 110-acre, waterfront campus of Sarasota’s New College is tucked snugly between Sarasota Bay and the Tamiami Trail. Once dubbed “Barefoot U,” more for its focus on woke ideals and less for its academic prowess, the school has been a haven for progressive liberal thinking since its inception some 60 years ago.
Now, thanks to newly re-elected second-term Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, the school’s liberal philosophy is about to be reimagined.
The liberal arts school, which currently consists of a student body of less than 700 students, finds itself thrust into the national spotlight now that DeSantis has announced the appointment of six noted conservatives to the school’s board of trustees in a press release on January 6th.
The new board members include: Matthew Spalding, a former vice president of the Heritage Foundation; professors and authors Charles Kesler and Mark Bauerlein; and Christopher Rufo.
Rufo, who appeared with DeSantis when the governor unveiled Florida’s “Stop Woke Act” in 2021, already has announced an ambitious plan to quickly revamp New College.
In an interview with the New York Times, he said plans are afoot for a “top-down restructuring” and the design of “a new core curriculum from scratch.” He predicted the school would look “very different in the next 120 days.”
Some Republicans say the appointments are an opportunity for Florida to emulate Hillsdale College, a small, private Christian university in Michigan that has helped DeSantis shape education policy since 2019. New College, they say, could be “a Hillsdale of the South.”
While a Hillsdale spokesperson called the comparison flattering, the label elicited polarized views and concern among some liberal-leaning alumni, faculty, and students.
Both supporters and critics see the six appointments to the 13-member board as part of a mor ambitious and rapid push to alter Florida’s higher education system in much the same way DeSantis put his mark on K-12 schools in 2022.
Last month, the governor’s budget office passed an edict requiring all government-funded state universities and colleges to intricately detail what they spend on diversity initiatives and critical race theory. What’s more, later this month, the state Board of Governors will consider a new policy that restricts faculty tenure and ties enforcement with the criteria established in DeSantis’s Stop WOKE Act.
In a recent press release, DeSantis press secretary Bryan Griffin said New College is long overdue for a change of philosophy.
In the release, Griffin had this to say:
Supporters say the newly re-elected second-term governor is out to “recapture higher education.” Most also agree that the appointment of these 6 new trustees is ‘Just the beginning.’
U.S. News & World Report ranks New College at No. 5 among public liberal arts colleges nationally, however, the school has faced some troubles in recent years.
The college’s most recent state accountability plan outlined two challenges to overcome.
It laid out a goal that every student complete an internship or apprenticeship before graduating, and it set a target to increase overall enrollment to 800 undergraduate students by academic year 2026.
Ever since 2016, when New College welcomed a freshman class of 861, enrollment and revenue have declined dramatically. Patricia Okker became president in 2021 and was handed the task of building community partnerships, boosting the endowment, and improving the school’s numbers. The most recent fall class saw a slight increase in enrollment and the largest group of transfer students in recent years.
Okker started a task force to improve retention rates and recently launched the New College Challenge, bringing students and scholars at top universities together to solve coastal resiliency issues.
Griffin, the DeSantis press secretary, said the new trustees have a firsthand understanding of Florida’s education system after working with the state on other education-related initiatives.
He pointed to the values section on New College’s mission page, which says the school is committed to creating a more “inclusive community” and “ensuring that historically marginalized and oppressed groups are not experiencing trauma and harm.”
Griffin said the passage illustrates the college has been “completely captured by a political ideology that puts trendy, truth-relative concepts above learning.
Ziegler, the GOP leader, said the change is beneficial for everyone involved.
Ziegler said Michigan’s Hillsdale College has “carved out a reputation going back to the basics and really focusing on history as it really was, rather than going to college, getting brainwashed by liberals.”
He said that, as a father of three young daughters and a Sarasota County business owner, he’s excited by the prospect of broader higher education options for his family and the community.
So how is this all projected to play out? On Monday, President Okker issued a statement giving a “warm welcome” to the new trustees, who are awaiting confirmation by the Republican-controlled state Senate. She said she was eager to hear their ideas for making New College “a national model for a top-tier liberal arts college.”
For the first time in years, Okker added, the school has a “tremendous opportunity” to be led by a full board.
Florida gives university boards of trustees broad powers — from hiring the president to planning, budgeting, and deciding which academic programs stay or go. Each board has 13 members — six of which are appointed by the governor, five are appointed by the state Board of Governors, and one representative each for the students and faculty.
The Board of Governors, which is mostly appointed by the governor, soon will add a new trustee as well, likely giving the New College board a seven-member majority that could execute the governor’s vision for the school.
Veracity Editor's Note:
This unbiased, non-satirical, fully attributed article was thoroughly researched by our team of fact-checkers and found to be accurate. The sources relied upon for the factual basis of this article were: Governor Ron DeSantis's Office, The New York Times, The Associated Press, Reuters, and veracityreport.org.
This article was compiled and written by Investigative Reporter Crystal Dillon – Because the Truth Matters!
More information on this and our other stories are available on our network website veracityreport.org.
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