Civics by Hostile Takeover – New College Florida #NoFreeSpeech

Florida’s small public honors college has become a cautionary tale of authoritarian ideological capture. A state-appointed board hijacked New College of Florida in 2023 and imposed a hard-line political agenda. In short order, this once-celebrated liberal arts school was gutted of its academic freedom and integrity, as programs were abolished, educators driven out, and a climate of fear installed. The implications are dire— this case exposes how quickly a public college can be remade into an ideological indoctrination camp at the whim of extremist officials. It endangers not only New College’s survival but also signals a broader assault on open inquiry in American higher education if such tactics spread.

Florida’s political leadership and its operatives engineered this hostile takeover. The state governor hand-picked a slate of ultra-conservative allies to New College’s board of trustees, effectively installing political enforcers in charge. These actors — ideologues with loyalty to the governor’s agenda rather than to education — moved immediately to seize control.

https://cybershafarat.com/2025/11/17/new-college-pushing-targeted-messages/

They ousted the sitting college president and replaced that leadership with a politically connected interim administrator (a former state legislator) who was a confidant of the governor. Notably, this new president was awarded roughly double the previous president’s salary, signaling a reward for loyalty over qualifications. The board of trustees, packed with political activists and the new president (a partisan ex-politician), became the key agents driving New College’s ideological shift. Few of these individuals had prior experience in academic governance — in fact, the revamped administration hired multiple new staff with no higher education background, even appointing an admissions director who had never worked in college admissions. This crew of outsiders and loyalists, answerable to the governor’s culture-war agenda, is responsible for the extreme changes at New College.

https://cybershafarat.com/2025/11/17/what-happens-when-leadership-reshapes-an-institution-with-political-spectacle/

Under the new regime, New College underwent sweeping authoritarian changes that upended its academics and campus culture—

Purge of Programs and Curriculum— The trustees moved at breakneck speed to restructure or eliminate academic offerings without meaningful faculty input. Entire areas of study deemed ideologically “undesirable” were cut — most notably, the board abolished the college’s gender studies program outright, a decision driven purely by political disdain for that field. Dozens of courses touching on race, gender, or marginalized perspectives were dropped from the curriculum to comply with the new ideological litmus test. For example, classes such as anthropology of race, LGBTQ+ studies, and sociology of gender were removed from general education offerings under a new state law that bans anything labeled “identity politics”. The result is a dramatically narrowed education. In some subject requirements, students now have zero choice of viewpoint – for instance, to fulfill the humanities core, their only option is a half-semester course on The Odyssey, a classic Greek epic. This single-track focus on “Western civilization” was rushed into place so abruptly that administrators struggled to find anyone to teach it. In short, a rich, diverse curriculum has been replaced by a one-sided canon that aligns with the board’s ultra-conservative ideology.

Erasure of Diversity and Student Support— All diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives at New College were scrapped as part of the ideological purge. The new board canceled a slew of DEI programs and student support measures, sending a clear signal that perspectives of racial, religious, or gender minorities are no longer welcome. In one telling incident, the administration even canceled accommodations for Muslim students during Ramadan (namely, halal meals for students fasting during the holy month) as part of eliminating DEI activities. This petty move against a simple religious accommodation exemplified the new cultural climate. The college’s longstanding commitment to inclusive support and multiculturalism was effectively abandoned overnight.

Politicized Curriculum and Indoctrination— In place of open inquiry, the trustees are imposing a rigid ideological curriculum. Faculty describe the changes as ideologically driven and harmful to students’ education. The board’s stated goal was to remake New College in the image of a right-wing Christian college (they openly compared it to “Hillsdale of the South”). To that end, they have rewritten the core curriculum to emphasize a narrow set of “classical” courses and cut out critical discussions of America’s history of racism, sexism, or inequality. Administrators have overridden normal curriculum development, often working behind closed doors with outside ideologues to design courses that fit a particular political mold. Faculty members report that, even when they were initially consulted on a new core plan, the administration later unilaterally altered it to serve the board’s agenda better (for example, canceling a proposed writing course and substituting an elective more in line with its ideology). In effect, New College’s leadership has turned the classroom into a vehicle for political indoctrination. The breadth of liberal arts inquiry has been sacrificed in favor of a conformist curriculum that promotes only the regime’s approved worldview.

Governance by Fear and Fiat —These changes were implemented with no respect for shared governance or free debate. Faculty were almost entirely sidelined – decisions to axe programs or hire new faculty were top-down and driven by politics rather than scholarship. Professors who objected found themselves ignored or dismissed. The new trustees also replaced the college’s internal leadership across the board, installing loyalists in key posts, creating an atmosphere where employees fear retaliation if they speak out. By mid-2024, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) concluded that Florida’s government showed “blatant disregard for academic governance and academic freedom” in its overhaul of New College. What had been a campus known for free-thinking and student-driven learning has been forced into lockstep conformity under political supervision. The overall cultural impact is palpable— New College’s tradition of independent thought has been replaced by an overtly politicized agenda built on ideological control and intimidation.

In sum, the “reforms” at New College amount to an authoritarian takeover of academics and campus life – a purge of programs branded “undesirable,” a mandate of one ideology in the curriculum, and the silencing or suppression of any opposing voices.

Why do these changes matter beyond one small college? The situation at New College of Florida carries grave implications for academic freedom, state governance, and even national democracy. It exemplifies how political power, if unchecked, can weaponize education to serve an extreme agenda—

Demolition of Academic Freedom— The New College experiment shows that academic freedom can be extinguished in a matter of months when authoritarians take charge. Instructors now operate under political censorship – they know that addressing topics like systemic racism or gender equality could cost them their jobs under Florida’s new dictates. This collapse of intellectual freedom is chilling. The core mission of a college – to seek truth and foster critical thinking – has been subverted by state fiat. What has emerged is a climate of self-censorship and fear among educators. A law professor described it as an “intellectual reign of terror,” with faculty “intellectually and physically scared” and feeling labeled “enemies of the state” by their own government. Such an environment not only violates the rights of teachers and students but also impoverishes the quality of education. When scholars are afraid to teach facts or explore ideas that might offend politicians, higher learning effectively withers. New College is a stark warning of how fragile academic freedom is when zealots in power decide to stamp out ideas they dislike.

Precedent for State Political Control— Florida’s aggressive meddling sets a dangerous precedent in state politics. The takeover demonstrates that an unscrupulous governor and legislature can directly usurp a public college’s governance and remake it in the ruling party’s image, eroding the norms of institutional autonomy— universities have long been granted space to govern themselves to avoid precisely this kind of partisan abuse. Now that precedent is broken. If it can happen here, it sends a message to ambitious politicians elsewhere— colleges can be treated as ideological conquests. Today it is New College; tomorrow it could be any public campus that a governor or legislative majority deems too “liberal,” threatening to politicize entire state university systems. Florida’s public university leaders are already on notice – trustees across the system have been actively hostile to academic freedom, and political loyalty tests are being signaled from above. The New College case, thus, isn’t isolated; it’s part of a pattern of state-level assaults on higher education governance. In Florida’s political landscape, the episode has inflamed divisions and damaged the state’s reputation. Florida is fast becoming known as a place where education is subjugated to partisan politics, which will have long-term effects on its ability to attract talent and investment.

National “Culture War” Template— The ideological makeover of New College is not just a Florida issue – it’s part of a nationwide influence operation by far-right forces. The same playbook of demonizing “wokeness” and purging dissent in education is being promoted in multiple states. New College has essentially been used as a test case for turning an American public college into a propaganda arm of a political movement. The board even openly stated they wanted to model it after a conservative religious college (one known for its doctrinaire curriculum), making New College a cause célèbre in extremist circles, touted as the front line of the battle to “take back” higher ed. We should expect attempts to replicate this model elsewhere. If other like-minded governors or legislatures follow suit, we could see a wave of college takeovers aimed at enforcing ideological purity – a scenario that begins to resemble authoritarian regimes where education is centrally controlled for political ends. This broader campaign undermines the pluralism and open debate essential to democracy. It is, in effect, a form of domestic information warfare— capturing educational institutions to shape the next generation’s beliefs according to one faction’s dogma.

Human Capital and Brain Drain— The immediate fallout in Florida is a brain drain that could impoverish the state for years. Educators across Florida’s universities have been alarmed by New College’s fate. In a recent survey, 85% of professors in Florida said they would warn colleagues against taking a job in the state due to the toxic political climate. Top scholars are already fleeing – one report noted at least 1,800 faculty resignations at the University of Florida and around 200 at the University of South Florida over the past year. Students, too, are looking elsewhere. Intelligent, curious young people do not want to study in a place where they’re told what they cannot read or think about. By attacking its own education system, Florida is effectively exporting its best and brightest minds to other states, which has dire implications for the state’s future economy and civic life. A modern economy relies on universities to produce skilled graduates and research innovation – but those functions wither when star faculty and students won’t come near a state known for censoring and shackling its institutions. In sum, the New College debacle is self-sabotage writ large— an ideologically driven purge that, if continued, will leave Florida’s higher education system hollowed out and nationally discredited.

In essence, the takeover of New College is a warning — showing how quickly authoritarian politics can knock down the pillars of academic freedom and institutional integrity. The implications touch everyone – from students losing educational opportunities to communities losing talent to a nation risking the loss of the open exchange of ideas that underpins its democracy.

The timing of New College’s transformation is no accident. It unfolded when political conditions in Florida hit a perfect storm for extremist “reforms” in education. Several factors converged—

A Post-Election Mandate for Culture War— In late 2022, Florida’s governor was re-elected by a wide margin and immediately claimed a mandate to escalate his assault on “wokeness” in schools and colleges. Emboldened by victory, he moved swiftly in early 2023 to target New College – a small, progressive institution that he held up as a supposed bastion of liberal ideology. The governor publicly lambasted New College as a “failed experiment” in left-wing academia and vowed to overhaul it entirely. The takeover was announced in January 2023 as part of this agenda, effectively using the college as a trophy to prove how he could vanquish ‘liberal’ education. The timing served his political narrative —he could tout the shake-up as a bold effort to “rescue” a floundering school (even though New College, by many measures, was not failing at all). In reality, it was a dramatic kickoff to a larger culture war campaign.

Legislative Backing for Ideological Laws — The push came amid a broader legislative offensive in Florida targeting specific ideas. In 2022 and 2023, state lawmakers (aligned with the governor) passed laws to clamp down on classroom discussions of race, gender, and history. By mid-2023, for example, Florida’s SB 266 went into effect, prohibiting any college core course that “distorts significant historical events” or that teaches that systemic racism or sexism are inherent in U.S. institutions. This law, and others like it, gave the New College board a powerful tool to justify purging curricula. Essentially, the political climate provided both impetus and legal cover for the board’s actions. They could claim (as they dropped dozens of courses) that they were enforcing state law. The timing was thus tied to a broader ideological crackdown sweeping Florida’s education system, from K-12 to universities. New College became the first public college to be entirely overtaken by these new “anti-woke” mandates, precisely because the timing was ripe to make it an example.

National Ambitions and Attention —The takeover also coincided with the governor’s preparations for a potential national political run. In the run-up to the 2024 presidential primaries, he made education culture wars a centerpiece of his platform. By orchestrating a high-profile upheaval at New College in early 2023, he grabbed national headlines and earned praise from far-right media figures who have long vilified higher education. In other words, “Why now?” – because it was politically opportune. The governor’s camp wanted to showcase an aggressive model of “reforming” academia that could appeal to a national base. Indeed, he formally announced a plan to turn New College into a “Hillsdale of the South” around that time, explicitly framing it as a flagship conservative institution. This timing turned New College into a campaign prop on the national stage, demonstrating to like-minded voters that he could forcefully implement an anti-progressive vision. (Notably, the governor’s White House bid ultimately faltered, and his education crusade is one reason cited for alienating more moderate audiences. But at the time, the calculation was that this bold move would elevate his stature.)

Minimal Immediate Resistance— Early 2023 was also a moment when opposition forces were caught off-guard or overpowered. The state’s political balance was one-sided (the legislature firmly under the governor’s party’s control, with little institutional pushback in Florida). The New College community – students, faculty, alumni – did mobilize in protest, but they lacked the power to stop trustee appointments or new laws. Lawsuits challenging these moves (such as one by alumni and students against SB 266’s restrictions) were filed only after the fact. Thus, the timing was a window in which the state’s ruling faction could act decisively before legal or electoral resistance materialized. The broader ideological context – a nationwide wave of “anti-CRT” and anti-LBGTQ education policies – meant they also had ideological wind in their sails. By striking quickly in 2023, Florida’s leaders took advantage of a cresting national movement that provided cover for extreme actions.

New College was taken over “now” because the stars aligned for an ideological power-play— a triumphant governor on a mission, new repressive laws on the books, and a strategic bid to influence the national conversation. It was the right target at the right time for those looking to make an example of purging “liberal” academia.

The fallout from this hostile takeover has been immediate and devastating. New College’s community and performance have suffered across the board. Key impacts to date include—

Faculty Exodus— New College has hemorrhaged its professors since the takeover. More than one-third of the faculty resigned within months – an astronomically high turnover rate by any standard. Many talented scholars decided they could not continue under the new regime’s repressive direction. The college’s own provost admitted that the attrition rate is “ridiculously high”. Departing faculty often expressed heartbreak at leaving students and colleagues, but they felt the environment had become untenable. This brain drain means students suddenly lost mentors and course offerings. It has also left remaining faculty overburdened and demoralized, trying to uphold academic quality amid constant political interference. Replacement hires have been difficult; as one professor noted, “nobody wants our jobs” in this climate. The loss of so many educators so quickly is a clear indicator of the toxic working conditions now at New College.

Course Cancellations and Academic Collapse— Students returning to campus have found their education in disarray. Over the summer of 2023, the new administration removed and canceled dozens of classes – often with little notice. Students would sign up for courses, only to be told just weeks or days before term that the class “would no longer be available”. The cancellations were mainly due to a lack of instructors (because so many faculty had left or been fired) and due to the deliberate purge of subject matter deemed off-limits. This academic turmoil has made it harder for students even to meet graduation requirements. With fewer electives and entire disciplines gone, students are scrambling to piece together schedules that meet their majors’ requirements. Course options have dwindled; some required areas now offer only a single course (an ideologically approved one). Academic advising has become a nightmare as the college’s curriculum is remade on the fly. In effect, New College’s educational quality and stability have collapsed – students can no longer count on a coherent path to their degree. The college that once prided itself on a rich, innovative curriculum now offers undergraduates a shrunken, politicized menu of classes, a direct result of authoritarian meddling— learning opportunities have been sacrificed, leaving students with a diminished education.

Student Losses and Dropouts— Unsurprisingly, students have been fleeing alongside faculty. Between fall 2022 and fall 2023, New College lost 27% of its student body – roughly one in four students left the school. This attrition in a single year (about 186 students out of a small enrollment) is double the rate of the preceding years. It marks the worst retention in New College’s history —only 64.9% of students returned the following year. Dorm rooms emptied as many students either transferred to other institutions or dropped out in despair. Some left in protest of the new direction; others left because their favorite professors or degree programs had been eliminated. The incoming classes have grown (see below), but those gains are outpaced by existing students voting with their feet to leave. One professor likened the situation to a “Ponzi scheme” – the school must recruit larger and larger cohorts to replace the exodus of continuing students. These enrollment shocks also jeopardize the college’s finances and stability. It’s a vicious cycle —the more instability and politicization, the more students leave, which then forces frantic measures to recruit anyone willing to come. Indeed, New College’s four-year graduation rate has already plummeted (from 58% to 47% in just two years) amid this turmoil. The college’s reputation among prospective students is in tatters, meaning this trend may worsen.

Degraded Admissions and Quality Decline— To fill the void left by departing students, the new regime has resorted to lowering admission standards and bulk-recruiting students who fit its desired image. The fall 2023 incoming freshman class was hailed by the administration as a “record size” (just over 300 new students), but this headline masks a troubling reality. Many of these new students were admitted under much looser academic standards than New College historically upheld. According to reports, the average high school GPA and test scores of incoming students dropped significantly after the takeover, reversing years of improving student profiles. The trustees bragged about making the college more “selective,” but the data shows the opposite – for example, the share of freshmen with a 4.0 high school GPA fell from 55% to 42% in two years. In truth, New College isn’t attracting the same caliber of intellectually curious students it once did. The administration has heavily focused on athletics to pump up enrollment— they suddenly created sports teams at a school that never had them, offering scholarships to dozens of athletes. Incredibly, the new freshman class included 70 scholarship baseball players – an astronomical number for a college of this size. (For comparison, the University of Florida’s freshman class of 15,000 had about half that number of baseball recruits.) This underscores how New College’s admissions have been diluted into a numbers game— quantity over quality, and ideology over merit. Many of these recruited students have little interest in the college’s academic ethos; indeed, quite a few of the “nontraditional” recruits transferred out after experiencing the chaos on campus. The net effect is a dramatic decline in New College’s academic standing. Once ranked among the nation’s top liberal arts colleges, it has already slid roughly 60 spots downward in national rankings since the takeover. In short, the incoming students on average are less prepared, while the institution’s prestige and rigor are plummeting – a direct outcome of prioritizing ideological conformity and headcount over academic excellence.

Political Indoctrination on Campus— The campus atmosphere has been fundamentally altered to infuse the new ideology at every turn. Orientation for new students and other programming now echo the board’s agenda, emphasizing “Western civilization” and disparaging topics such as diversity and critical social analysis. The curriculum has been weaponized for indoctrination – with required courses on narrow viewpoints and elimination of dissenting scholarly perspectives (as detailed in the “What” section). Beyond classes, student life is also being shaped by the new political ethos. For instance, campus vendors and activities reflect a religiously conservative bent that was never part of New College before —the once-quirky campus café now serves coffee in cups printed with Bible verses under a vendor connected to the new president. And in a particularly startling move, the college commissioned a statue of a controversial partisan activist to celebrate “free speech” on campus – a clear signal of the partisan heroes the new leaders want students to revere. All official college messaging touts a return to “classical education” and implies that previous values of inclusivity or social consciousness were wrong. Students and faculty describe it as living under propaganda —the administration is determined to impose one ideological viewpoint on the campus across all academic and social domains. This kind of indoctrination is antithetical to a healthy college environment, and it appears to be driving away the very independent-minded students that New College used to attract.

Climate of Repression and Fear— Hand in hand with indoctrination comes repression of dissent. New College’s new management has cracked down on protest and criticism. Students and staff who speak out risk disciplinary action or public vilification. Indeed, numerous students, alumni, and professors who disagreed with the changes have felt compelled to leave, as noted above. Those who remain describe a palpable “sense of dread” on campus. People fear being monitored for ideological purity – a stunning turn at a college once known for free-spirited debate. Reports emerged of administrators refusing to renew the contracts of staff seen as out of step with the new agenda. When students organized to push back (for example, holding alternative graduation events or forming advocacy groups), the college’s response was often hostile. A union investigation found a “tremendous sense of dread” among students and staff, who feel they are viewed as enemies by their own school’s leaders. Free expression has sharply eroded— faculty report self-censoring their lectures, and students are unsure what discussion might cross a line.

Meanwhile, surveillance of campus discourse – formally or informally – appears to have increased, as the political overseers keep tabs on compliance. This repressive climate has drawn national condemnation. In early 2024, the AAUP formally sanctioned New College for its violations of governance norms. Such sanctions are rare (only a dozen universities have been listed in the past decades) and serve as a public warning that the academic freedom conditions at New College are unacceptable. Unfortunately, that warning is well-merited— by all accounts, New College has become a place where fear and authoritarian control eclipse free inquiry.

External Political Interference —What is happening at New College is not an organic internal change—it is the result of continuous external meddling by political authorities and ideologues. The college is now subject to micro-management by state officials and out-of-state interest groups. The board of trustees itself is composed of outsiders with explicit political missions, rather than educators or representatives of the college community. They have invited input from partisan think tanks and aligned organizations in the redesign of New College’s programs. For instance, the influence of a private Christian college model (Hillsdale College) is openly guiding New College’s new direction, essentially importing a curriculum from outside Florida’s public education system. Moreover, Florida’s government has directly interfered in campus affairs – the governor even staged the signing of the restrictive SB 266 law on New College’s campus, literally using the school as a political backdrop. With that law in place, state authorities now reach into classrooms to dictate what can and cannot be taught. This level of politicization is unprecedented in New College’s history. Rather than local educators deciding how to run the college, legislators in the state capital and political appointees now pull the strings. There are also credible reports that the new administration is hiring personnel based on political connections (or loyalty to the governor) rather than experience, as seen with the unqualified admissions director and other staff hires. Even financial interference is evident— the legislature approved tens of millions of extra dollars to fund the “revamp” of New College, essentially using taxpayer money to bankroll this ideological experiment. In sum, New College is no longer an autonomous institution – it’s a political pet project under constant outside control. This external interference has thoroughly compromised the integrity of the college’s operations.

All of these impacts paint a stark picture— New College of Florida, once a jewel of progressive liberal arts education, has been hollowed out and refashioned under authoritarian pressure. The damage is visible in the people who have left, the programs that have been axed, the plummeting academic metrics, and the oppressive day-to-day atmosphere on campus. New College’s situation stands as both a tragedy for its community and a dire warning of what happens when ideological zealots run a college.

Looking ahead, New College’s trajectory appears deeply troubled, with multiple risky outcomes on the horizon. Using strategic foresight, we can outline plausible scenarios and broader implications if current trends continue—

Institutional Decline or Collapse —If the present course is maintained, New College may be on a path to a death spiral. The ongoing loss of faculty and students could reach a tipping point at which the college can no longer function as a credible institution. Already, there is open talk in Florida’s halls of power about shutting New College down or privatizing it altogether. The thinking is that if the experiment fails to produce a “successful” conservative college, it might be better (from the state’s perspective) to dissolve it than to revert to its previous model. The interim president himself has admitted that if New College doesn’t rapidly transform into something “different” (i.e., aligned with their vision), then “we should be closed down,” a startling admission of how disposable the college is to its political overseers. In practical terms, accreditation risks will also loom if academic quality continues to decline; accreditors could place the college on probation if governance and educational standards remain subpar. The most immediate trajectory, then, is grim— New College could either limp along as a hollowed-out shell (with high costs and low outcomes) or face being shut down entirely as an object lesson. In either case, Florida will have effectively destroyed one of its own public colleges – a loss for the state’s educational capacity and a warning that no institution is safe from political whims.

Brain Drain and “Two-Tier” Higher Education —In the long view, the New College saga may contribute to a growing divide in American higher education. Florida’s public universities risk becoming second-class institutions in the eyes of faculty, students, and employers nationally. If talented professors continue to flee and top students steer clear, universities under heavy political control will lose prestige and capacity. We may see Florida (and states that follow its path) unable to recruit renowned researchers or win competitive grants, as the academic community regards these environments as toxic or unstable. Meanwhile, states that uphold academic freedom may become havens for the displaced talent, widening the gap in innovation and academic excellence between free states and authoritarian-leaning states. Over time, this could lead to a form of educational segregation — with open, prestigious universities clustering in some states and ideologically “cleansed” but diminished institutions in others. The sociopolitical implications are significant. Regions that undermine their universities will likely suffer economically (with fewer high-paying jobs, less tech and research investment) and culturally (as educated young people leave). Florida, for example, could experience a slowdown in the growth of industries that rely on a pipeline of skilled graduates or faculty expertise. Additionally, the civic health of such states may decline – universities have traditionally been centers of civic dialogue and critique; their neutering means less informed public discourse. The outlook for Florida is that it could become an educational backwater relative to states that protect academic inquiry, impacting its long-term competitiveness and social cohesion.

Normalization of Authoritarian Oversight —If the New College takeover is not decisively rebuked (legally or politically), it risks becoming a template for normalizing authoritarian oversight of education. Other governors with similar agendas may be emboldened to copy Florida’s approach. We could foresee, for instance, small liberal arts colleges in different states being targeted for “reform” by partisan boards, or state legislatures increasingly writing laws to micromanage college syllabi. If that happens, the national academic landscape will be marred by constant political interference, and institutions will struggle to plan for the future, never knowing when a new law or board purge might upend them, creating instability that deters investment and enrollment. Moreover, widespread adoption of such tactics would significantly undermine America’s global reputation for excellence in higher education. U.S. universities are widely admired for academic freedom and quality; should a political purge model spread, international students and scholars might reconsider coming here, and global partnerships could weaken. In essence, the risk is a slow-motion erosion of the United States’ leadership in higher education if ideological control supersedes academic merit.

Pushback and Possible Reversal —On the other hand, there is also the prospect of pushback leading to a course correction. The intensity of the backlash to New College’s fate – from alumni lawsuits to negative press to faculty sanctions – could galvanize efforts to protect other institutions and perhaps even undo some changes in Florida. Public opinion in the state might shift as the consequences become clear (for example, parents seeing their college-bound children choose out-of-state schools, or local businesses noticing the talent flight). Florida’s political leadership could face increasing pressure from voters, donors, or the business community to stop undermining education. If state leadership changes in future elections, there may be moves to restore New College and re-embrace academic freedom. However, even in a best-case scenario where the ideological assault is halted, rebuilding what was lost at New College will be extremely challenging. Faculty who left may not return, the college’s reputation has been damaged, and trust in governance is broken. It could take many years to recover, if at all. The more realistic, optimistic outlook is that New College might stabilize at a smaller size with a niche identity (perhaps as a heavily subsidized “classical education” school) or merge into another state university. In other words, even if the worst abuses end, the college that existed before 2023 may never fully return. The long-term legacy could serve as a cautionary tale, reinvigorating support for safeguards (such as stronger tenure protections or laws insulating university governance from politics) to ensure this doesn’t happen elsewhere.

Wider Sociopolitical Consequences —Finally, the New College case has broader sociopolitical repercussions. It has energized civil society watchdogs and student activists, not just in Florida but nationwide, who see it as a wake-up call about creeping authoritarianism. We can expect continued legal battles – for instance, on First Amendment grounds – that will test how far state governments can go in dictating college content. The outcome of these fights will shape the boundary between academic liberty and government control if courts strike down some of Florida’s actions (e.g., parts of SB 266) as unconstitutional, which could rein in similar efforts elsewhere. Conversely, if such actions survive legal challenge, it could open the floodgates for more aggressive moves. In the political realm, the turmoil at New College could influence voters (especially younger ones and moderates) who see it as government overreach. It may become a campaign issue in Florida and beyond, symbolizing the broader conflict between democratic values and authoritarian tendencies in America. As such, the New College saga might foreshadow future clashes in our society over education, free thought, and who controls the narrative of history and culture. The stakes are high —the way this unfolds will either reaffirm the norms of academic freedom or further erode them, with consequences for the health of American democracy itself.

In all scenarios, one thing is clear – the path carved by New College’s transformation is perilous. Whether it continues unchecked or is eventually restrained, the damage done offers a glimpse of a darker future for education if authoritarian impulses are not confronted. Stakeholders at every level, from local communities to national policymakers, will need to grapple with this outcome and decide how to respond to protect the integrity of higher learning.

Ten Far-Right Takeover Moves at New College of Florida (Post-2023 Trusteeship)

• College leaders punish student protesters and fire faculty who criticize them.
• College leaders eliminated the gender studies program and shut down diversity and inclusion offices.
• Officials force Christian nationalist ideas into classes and campus life.
• Basic classes like biology are falling apart and failing to teach the basics.
• Academic standards plummet, and the quality of education collapses.
• SAT scores plunge as top students avoid college.
• Administrators hire loyal ideologues with poor academic credentials.
• Job candidates face political litmus tests to weed out any critics.
• New classes push anti-woke propaganda instead of real education.
• Officials publicly threaten critics and demand total loyalty.

1. Board Takeover by DeSantis’s Far-Right Allies— Governor Ron DeSantis stacked New College’s board with ultra-conservative ideologues in January 2023, installing culture warriors like Christopher Rufo (anti-CRT crusader) and others to “reshape the college in the image of a private Christian institution.” One DeSantis ally openly said the goal was to remake New College into a “Hillsdale of the South,” invoking the ultra-conservative Christian college as a model. This hostile takeover put far-right activists in charge of a once-progressive public school, explicitly to wage war on “woke” students and LGBTQ+ campus culture.
2. President Fired and Political Crony Installed— In their very first meeting, the new trustees summarily fired New College’s president, Patricia Okker, humiliating her as an obstacle to their agenda. They parachuted in Richard Corcoran – a DeSantis loyalist and former GOP politician with no academic background – as interim president, bypassing any regular search. Even the Heritage Foundation bragged that the board “removed the president in short order”to send a warning that anyone resisting their purge of diversity programs *”would suffer consequences.”* This banana-republic move made clear that party loyalty trumped expertise from day one.
3. Tenure Denials and Faculty Purge— Just months into the takeover, trustees denied tenure to five respected professors who had already been approved by faculty and outside scholars, purely for political reasons. This unprecedented attack on academic freedom shocked the campus and served as a purge of those not deemed ideologically pure. By the fall, over 40% of New College’s faculty had fled, an exodus of dozens of educators. One departing professor lambasted the trustees’ actions as “a reactionary attempt to prevent cultural shifts that scare you,”declaring that under DeSantis *”Florida is the state where learning goes to die.”*
4. Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Offices Abolished— The new regime completely dismantled New College’s DEI programs and staffing, bragging about axing “diversity” roles as a cost-saving purge of “far-left” In one swoop, they eliminated the Office of Outreach and inclusive student services, proudly announcing a $200,000 cut by firing DEI staff. In a display of cultural cleansing, administrators even tossed out boxes of books and materials from the campus diversity and gender resource center after shutting it down. The message was clear— any effort to support marginalized groups or discuss equity was deemed unwelcome “indoctrination” to be stamped out.
5. Anti-LGBTQ+ Agenda – Gender Studies Erasedand Signs Removed— On August 10, 2023, trustees voted to abolish the entire gender studies program, making New College the first public university in America to wipe out a gender studies major as part of “pushing back on gender indoctrination,” in their words. One DeSantis-appointed trustee sneered that the academic program was “more of an ideological movement” than scholarship. The board also ordered gender-neutral restroom signs torn down, a petty attack on transgender and nonbinary students’ safety that added open bigotry to their agenda. These moves epitomize a homophobic and transphobic crusade to purge any LGBTQ+ inclusion from campus life.
6. Curriculum Rewritten for Right-wing “Classical” Indoctrination —The new trustees quickly moved to gerrymander New College’s curriculum and mission to fit a hard-right mold. In late 2024, they rammed through a new mission statement that preaches *”the great traditions and moral disciplines of our civilization”* – code for a dogmatic Western heritage curriculum – while deleting the college’s longstanding commitment to free inquiry. Core courses were overhauled to emphasize conservative “classical” education, and even a one-month course titled “The Woke Movement”was introduced, branding the concept of social justice as “a kind of cult…capable of the most dehumanizing behavior,” according to its own description. In place of critical thinking, the board is shoving political propaganda into the classroom.
7. Hiring Unqualified Rightwing Extremists as Faculty— In what faculty have called a “rightwing hiring spree,” New College’s new leaders are filling positions with ideologues lacking proper credentials. An internal letter from department chairs condemned the “breakdown of established processes” – unvetted hires with no PhDs, fake job searches, and offers made without committee input. For example, they brought in Bruce Gilley, infamous for an essay praising colonialism, as a high-paid “scholar-in-residence”. They’ve hired a Hillsdale College grad with only three minor publications to teach political science, and Joseph Loconte, a former Heritage Foundation director, to push Christian nationalist ideas at top dollar. Traditional academics have been replaced by far-right foot soldiers, chosen for ideology over merit.
8. Collusion with Extremist Organizations (Heritage, TPUSA, etc.)— The takeover didn’t happen in a vacuum – New College’s new masters are working hand-in-glove with outside extremist groups. One DeSantis trustee, Heritage alum Ryan T. Anderson, is a notorious anti-LBGTQ activist. The Heritage Foundation itself proudly rates New College as a “great option” for conservative students now, openly cheering the school’s hard-right transformation. Emails show a Republican operative (and alum) boasting that he prodded DeSantis to target New College and recommending hires to Interim President Corcoran behind the scenes. Even Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA brand of campus intolerance has been embraced – the college went so far as to announce a privately funded statue of Kirk, lionizing the far-right agitator as a free speech hero. New College is being molded into a propaganda outpost of the national far-right movement, with think-tank lobbyists and partisan activists pulling the strings.
9. Cult of Charlie Kirk and “Make My Day” Authoritarianism— In a move that stunned observers, New College’s new leaders announced plans to erect a statue honoring Charlie Kirk – the inflammatory Turning Point USA founder – after Kirk was killed in 2025. The decision to idolize a divisive far-right figure on campus shows the depth of the ideological zealotry. Students immediately voiced concern that the statue would be a target of protest or prank – and Governor DeSantis responded with an authoritarian threat— *”If a student defaces the statue, then the student will be sent packing. Go ahead, make my day!” *. This direct Clint Eastwood-stylewarning to his own students encapsulates the fascistic atmosphere— dissent will be met with expulsion. By literally putting Kirk on a pedestal and daring students to object, the regime signaled that far-right icons are sacred at New College – and free speech be damned.
10. Extremist Rhetoric, Censorship, and Climate of Fear— The public communications and conduct of New College’s new management have been openly extremist and repressive. A DeSantis-installed vice president, Nathan Allen, runs a personal blog vilifying academics as “Marxists”and ranting that left-wing professors *”burn books, tear down the statues, purge the faculties of thought crimes”* – a grotesque irony as he helps carry out those exact purges. One newly hired “scholar” tweeted the white nationalist “great replacement” conspiracy, claiming Democrats import immigrants to sway elections, and dismissed a female world leader as nothing but a *”diversity hire.”* Such bile from officials creates a toxic atmosphere of bigotry and intimidation on campus. Meanwhile, students and faculty who speak up are ignored or attacked – the student body president on the board said she was shut out of the mission-change process entirely. Books have been removed, courses scrutinized for wrongthink, and students are transferring out en masse, likening the situation to a “hostile takeover” of the college. In place of the free-thinking haven it once was, New College now offers a chilling showcase of censorship, indoctrination, and fear under far-right rule.

New College of Florida’s ordeal stands as a blistering indictment of authoritarian rot and ideological vandalism in our institutions. In the span of less than two years, political zealots have sabotaged a thriving college, treating it as disposable in their quest to enforce an extremist worldview. They have trampled academic freedom, run off devoted educators and students, and gutted the college’s programs – all to sculpt a public institution into a partisan propaganda tool, more than an isolated campus drama; it is a harbinger of what occurs when authoritarians wield unchecked power over education. The perpetrators cloaked their actions in the language of “reform,” but the results speak plainly— courses cancelled, careers derailed, knowledge suppressed, and a community traumatized. They have not “fixed” anything – they have broken something precious and built a caricature in its place.

Florida’s leaders have effectively declared war on intellectual liberty, and New College is the ground zero of their campaign. The college’s proud legacy of free inquiry and innovation has been desecrated by narrow-minded ideologues who fear diversity of thought. This is ideological vandalism of the highest order – the defacement of an institution of learning to satisfy a political agenda. The new regime at New College, far from uplifting the school, has steered it into freefall— plummeting retention, plunging rankings, skyrocketing expenses, and an atmosphere of paranoia. Even some of the governor’s own appointees are now alarmed at the wreckage, openly acknowledging that this “is a [politician’s] project” and hinting that it may end in closure. In other words, New College’s supposed saviors are poised to be its executioners.

This outcome is as unacceptable as it is unconscionable. A public college is not a private plaything for demagogues. The story of New College’s takeover should outrage every citizen who values a university as a place for truth, debate, and growth. We are witnessing a moral and civic betrayal— the trust given to public officials to steward education has been repaid with sabotage. If such actions do not prompt loud condemnation and decisive corrective action, we risk normalizing the evisceration of our educational foundations. Today, it is New College; tomorrow, it could be another campus or an entire school district. The rot of authoritarianism spreads if not confronted.

Let us be clear— what has happened at New College of Florida is an abomination in a democratic society. It represents the worst instincts of governance – punitive, anti-intellectual, and obsessively controlling. The board and state officials have sent a message through this college: fall in line with our ideology, or we will burn it all down, which must not stand. Leaders in Washington and other states, university accrediting bodies, courts, and the public at large must not look away. We need sunlight and accountability on this abuse of power. New College’s saga should steel the resolve of policymakers, educators, and citizens to fortify the autonomy of educational institutions and reject the encroachment of tyranny in our classrooms.

The takeover of New College of Florida is a stark lesson in how quickly authoritarian hands can dim the lights of learning. It demands a strong, unified response to rescue what remains, to support the students and faculty who have endured this trauma, and to ensure no other college suffers the same fate. The ideological wrecking crew in Florida has had their moment; now the defenders of academic freedom and democracy must have theirs. New College’s ordeal is a warning – and we ignore it at our peril.

Sources— The Guardian; Inside Higher Ed; Florida Governor’s Office; The Heritage Foundation; New College Open Campus report; The Guardian (Nov 2024 investigative report); AP News; New York Magazine.