New College in Fla. Affected by Restrictive Administrative Policies.
Becca Boynton | March 3, 2023
On Feb. 28, The New College of Fla.’s six new Board of Trustees met on their central campus in Sarasota, Fla. for the first time since new leadership was appointed in early January. After an intense and lengthy meeting, the board arranged to eliminate the college’s office of diversity.
The public liberal arts college has become the most recent focus of conservative Fla. politicians. Governor DeSantis and other conservative lawmakers have made efforts to control what liberal arts colleges teach their students — assembling a disproportionate number of conservative trustees to a college where 73% of the student population classifies themself as progressive.
The students have responded with protests and evident outrage. However, the new leadership maintains its position in transforming the college.
Founded in 1960, the New College sits on a quaint campus with roughly 700 students. The New College of Fla. has many parallels to Warren Wilson College (WWC). Students may stroll freely on campus barefoot, are given a community-minded education and may live an out-queer life without anxiety.
Much like WWC, New College is a campus known for its LGTBQ allyship and activism. Colleges like The New College of Fla. and WWC offer rare spaces of allyship and support to LGBTQ youth. DeSantis — who signed Florida’s Don’t Say Gay Bill in March 2022 — and his appointees put these important spaces at risk.
DeSantis’s new board has already eliminated resources on campus that support people of color.
Although other small colleges seem to be unaffected by Fla.’s policy changes, these broad policies have the possibility to affect all similar institutions.