DeSantis Appoints People to Overhaul ‘Equity’ Ideology at New College of Florida
SARASOTA (FLV) – Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed new leadership at New College of Florida to overhaul the institution’s “equity” ideology for a merit-based approach.
New College of Florida is a top-ranked public liberal arts college that has around 700 students.
The Daily Caller first reported the governor announced six new appointments to New College of Florida’s board of trustees. Appointments include Christopher Rufo, Matthew Spalding, Charles R. Kesler, Mark Bauerlein, Debra Jenks, and Jason “Eddie” Speir.
“It is our hope that New College of Florida will become Florida’s classical college, more along the lines of a Hillsdale of the South,” said James Uthmeier, Chief of Staff for DeSantis.
The appointees would need to be approved by the Florida Senate.
“My ambition is to help the new board majority transform New College into a classical liberal arts institution,” Rufo said. “We are recapturing higher education.”
The newly-appointed member outlined goals include abolishing “diversity, equity, and inclusion” and replacing it with “equality, merit, and colorblindness.”
According to their website, the New College of Florida has an “Office of Outreach and Inclusive Excellence” which serves as a focal point for New College community outreach, as well as campus diversity, equity, and inclusion.
NCF says they value “a just, diverse, equitable and inclusive community.”
“As Governor DeSantis stated in his second inaugural speech: ‘We must ensure that our institutions of higher learning are focused on academic excellence and the pursuit of truth.’ Starting today, the ship is turning around. New College of Florida, under the governor’s new appointees, will be refocused on its founding mission of providing a world-class quality education with an exceptional focus on the classics,” Bryan Griffin, the press secretary for Governor DeSantis, reportedly said in a statement.
In DeSantis’ inauguration speech for his second term, he called for expanding parental rights, limiting the power of “partisan interest groups” and ensuring higher education focuses on “pursuit of truth” not “trendy ideologies.”
In response to Rufo’s appointment, Democrat state Rep. Anna Eskamani said the governor appointed a “political propagandist.”
“DeSantis is destroying higher education in Florida for his own political gain. It’s disgusting, bad for our workforce development & everyone — faculty, admin, alumni, students — need to fight back,” Eskamani said.
