Thanks to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ 2022 election mandate and consequent ability to hand select those in positions of educational power in the state, there has never been any question of quashing his intention to transform New College of Florida from a progressive honors college with a uniquely creative learning environment to an incubator for classical studies and Christian conservative thought (with a few subpar sports teams thrown in for good measure).
Neither major donor withdrawals, a mass defection of students and faculty, nor pushback from alumni and community members has caused a pause in the march toward eradicating everything NCF was and stood for. Since there was never any possibility of stopping this blatant display of political overreach, all that remained was to see how it unfolded. And, every step of the way, that denouement has been deliberately confrontational, punitive and underhanded.
The latest inflammatory act was the recent discarding of hundreds of books from the college’s Jane Bancroft Cook Library and student-owned materials from the now-defunct Gender and Diversity Center, which were jettisoned, in full sight and without warning, in a dumpster behind the library. The move, which evoked images of Nazi book burning, seemed deliberately designed to deliver maximum visual and emotional impact.
After the fact, NCF President Richard Corcoran insisted the disposal was part of a “normal weeding process” and –countering a previous erroneous statement by an NCF spokesperson that state-purchased materials could not be transferred or sold to others – maintained the materials had been offered to students prior to their disposal. (This was refuted by several students and faculty members.)
More: Carrie Seidman: Sarasota County is paving over paradise – and using our money to do it
Then, needing a scapegoat, he put the library’s administrative dean on leave and condemned the media for its coverage. As has often been the case with changes made at the school over the past 18 months, the approach was to strike first without warning, issue denials or excuses, then sweep away the remains of the littered battlefield.
This operational standard was in place even before the first meeting of the six new NCF trustees DeSantis put in place in January of 2023, when one, Christopher Rufo, spoke in militaristic terms of the board as a “landing team” and pledged a “shock and awe” campaign that would “lay siege” to the college’s “woke” programming.
While assuring students and faculty they would “welcome all voices” and “encourage passionate debate,” the Board of Trustees then quickly proceeded to fire the college’s president and make a decision behind closed doors to install Corcoran; replace the board’s attorney and eliminate the school’s diversity, equity and inclusion program.
More: New College of Florida book purge: A horror story of secrecy, ineptitude and stupidity
This slash-and-burn approach has continued ever since.
Tenure was swiftly denied to five faculty members who had won approval of both the NCF faculty and the previous administration; the Gender Studies program was abolished; student-created murals on campus buildings were painted over; and, just before the start of classes last fall, upperclassmen assigned to the most accommodating campus dormitories were forced to cede their spots to newly recruited student athletes and live in nearby hotel rooms instead. At last spring’s commencement, five students received disciplinary action for protesting the college’s conservative commencement speaker. (So much for “passionate debate.”)
More recently – and despite months of requests from residents of the adjacent Uplands neighborhood for information and involvement in plans for campus alterations – dozens of mature trees and plants were removed from a bay front area to make way for recreational sports fields.
The neighborhood had gifted the undeveloped acreage to the college in the 1960s, with the provision that it be left in its natural state, which included mangroves and drainage that helped protect the Uplands from storm surge and flooding.
In every case, these actions were taken without prior warning to the school body or local residents and enacted in such a way as to stir maximum resentment. There has never been any attempt to engage the greater community, solicit feedback, consider alternatives or be transparent about impending plans. And nothing but lip service or derision is given to anyone who tries to push back.
Meanwhile, like the worst kind of middle school bully, Trustee Rufo has kept up his antagonizing comments on social media, where he referred to the recent book dump as “throwing out the trash.” (“Great job!” seconded a De Santis spokesperson, applauding the eradication of “propaganda.”) I’m not sure which is worse – Rufo’s taunting, sophomoric barbs or Corcoran’s pretense to be Mr. Nice Guy when he deigns to meet with concerned community members, all the while remaining mum about changes that he well knows will stir discontent.
The takeover of New College was always going to be contentious. Its alumni, donors and students have long been deeply devoted to the atypical model of education it offered and anything that threatened that freedom and the academic excellence it had fostered would inevitably be cause for dissension.
But there was a way of going about remedying New College’s financial challenges – ostensibly, the reason behind the “makeover” in the first place – that would have been far less destructive, to the student body, the Sarasota community and even the Florida state college system as a whole, which has now become a national headline for all the wrong reasons.
Yet a less contentious, more humane transformation for NCF seems never to have been a consideration. This is an arrogant administration that prefers attack to collaboration, mandate to mediation, subterfuge to transparency. Its methods are altogether contrary to the Christian values it purportedly espouses – but hey, why should being hypocritical matter?
No one can possibly be surprised by this latest attack on decency – though it does lead one to wonder what may be coming next. It has long been rumored the intent of the New College transformation is to run the school into the ground, leaving the state with a valuable piece of prime bay front property. Whether or not that is the end goal, the means to reach it need not be unnecessarily hostile acts that deliberately incite discord and division.
The results of the Aug. 20 primary elections – particularly in the contentious School Board and hospital board races –made clear residents are tired of the negative attention that has come to Sarasota through its identity as the hotbed of the national culture wars.
We want our peacefully diverse community back – and that includes the quirky but nationally lauded little college that was once such a source of local pride.
Contact Carrie Seidman at [email protected] or 505-238-0392.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: New College of Florida book destruction is an attack on decency
Amanda Smith is a dedicated U.S. correspondent with a passion for uncovering the stories that shape the nation. With a background in political science, she provides in-depth analysis and insightful commentary on domestic affairs, ensuring readers are well-informed about the latest developments across the United States.
