I attended the first meeting of this Board of Trustees of New College on January 31, 2023. Many thanks to chair Maria Ruiz for conducting a fair meeting and promoting civil discourse. It was obvious, however, that newly-appointed board members came in with an outside political agenda. And many of them seemed to have little understanding of either the mission of New College (including to prepare "curious students for lives of great achievement“) or the way the college operates to carry out that mission.
Some trustees generally seemed genuinely unaware, for example, that New College defines inclusion very broadly. This month, New College offers programs open to the community to commemorate Black History Month. They also offer a series of talks on Sarasota’s Amish community. New College’s Office of Outreach and Inclusive Excellence works not only with Black and brown students but with veterans, first-generation students, older students, students who are differently abled, and low-income students, as well as with community groups.
It was also obvious that the board is overstepping its boundaries, attempting to micromanage, far outside professional guidelines for the role of the board itself, as outlined by the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (https://www.suny.edu/media/suny/content-assets/documents/boardoftrustees/bot-agb-governance.pdf). Frankly, I am surprised that this national group has not spoken out publicly against attempts by this and other college and university boards to overstep their legal mandates.
I urge the board not to follow blindly any outside political mandate to change New College in significant ways without a much better understanding of either the mission and operations of New College or of the appropriate role of the board.
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