DeSantis Plans to Transform New College of Florida

SARASOTA – Governor Ron DeSantis announced changes meant to transform New College of Florida, a liberal arts school in Sarasota, into a conservative-leaning institution. DeSantis appointed six new appointees to the college's board of trustees last week, one of the more controversial appointments being Christopher Rufo, dean at Hillsdale College and senior fellow at right-wing think tank The Claremont Institute.
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Another of the appointees is Dr. Matthew Spalding, professor of constitutional government at Hillsdale College and former vice president of American studies at the conservative Heritage Foundation. Dr. Charles Kesler, who was also appointed by the governor, is a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College and a senior fellow at The Claremont Institute. Rufo, Spalding, and Kesler reportedly live outside of Florida.

Founded as a private college in 1960, New College ran into financial difficulties during the hyperinflation of the 1970s and ultimately allowed itself to be absorbed by the state's higher education system. It operated as a separate unit within the University of South Florida system until 2001 when it severed its ties with USF and became the eleventh independent school in the state university system. The school was rebranded as New College of Florida, with the legislature designating it as the official honors college for the state.

New College is governed by a 13-member board of directors, six of whom are selected by the governor and approved by the Florida Senate. The small public liberal arts honors college is one of the most progressive higher education institutions within the state, and the newly appointed members aim to move the institution in a more conservative direction.

Rufo sharedon Twitter that public universities have "been corrupted by woke nihilism," and that he is ready to transform higher education. Rufo said his plans included redesigning the curriculum to align with the "classical model" of education, restructuring the administration and academic departments; recruiting new faculty with expertise in the classical liberal arts tradition, developing a new core curriculum, and eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies and replacing them with "equality, merit, and colorblindness" principles.

"My ambition is to help the new board majority transform New College into a classical liberal arts institution," Rufo wrote. "We are recapturing higher education."

The shake-up came roughly a week after DeSantis' office sent a memo to the state Department of Education outlining that all state university and college systems in Florida must submit a list of programs or faculty members who teach "Diversity, Justice and Inclusion and Critical Race Theory." DeSantis’ recent efforts are part of his war against so-called "wokeness" and his actions are intended to reshape education policy in Florida–the state where the governor has declared "woke goes to die."

At the Sarasota County Legislative Delegation meeting this week, about 40 supporters of the college spoke out against the effort by the governor and his appointees to push a conservative transformation at the school.

The Herald-Tribune reported that New College supporters gathered outside before the meeting chanting slogans such as "Save New College" and waving signs, including one reading "Stop the DeSantis steal!"

The meeting was the first opportunity for opponents of the planned changes to the college to address their local lawmakers. DeSantis’ appointments still require confirmation by a vote of the Florida Senate.