Gavin Newsom visits New College of Florida

SARASOTA, Fla. (FLV) – California Gov. Gavin Newsom made an appearance at the New College of Florida, a public college where Gov. Ron DeSantis’ appointees recently abolished the institution’s “equity” ideology for a merit-based approach.

According to a report by the Herald Tribune, Newsom said DeSantis has a “zest for demonization.”

He reportedly “highlighted everything from book bans to alleged infringements on voting rights in his speech before participating in a roundtable discussion with students.”

New College of Florida is a top-ranked public liberal arts college that has around 700 students.

The appointees also recently outsed the college’s president, Dr. Patricia Okker, and selected former Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran to step in as the interim president.

The Los Angeles Times called the visit a “a shot at his political nemesis, DeSantis, and a further escalation in a battle between these two ideological rivals.”

Newsom was scheduled to speak with students who are “leading the fight against DeSantis’ effort to control the college,” according to Newsom’s spokesperson.

Herald Tribune reporter Zac Anderson tweeted the video with the caption, “The college has become the epicenter of the culture wars after FL Gov Ron DeSantis initiated a conservative transformation.”

Newsom was seen clapping along to the song, “He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ press secretary, Bryan Griffin, reacted to the caption and said, “Insisting a public university focus on academics makes this ‘the epicenter of the culture wars.'”

Griffin posted a GIF of DeSantis with the caption, “This is a stunt. If you want to waste your time on a stunt, That’s fine. But I’m not wasting my time on your stunts.”

In February, the New College Board of Trustees voted to abolish diversity, equity, and inclusion bureaucracies at a board meeting. The board passed a motion to eliminate the Office of Outreach and Inclusive Excellence, and authorize the interim president to make necessary or appropriate personnel decisions.

DeSantis’ administration previously said they will work on making sure that universities are teaching in the “classical sense” and not “imposing ideological worldview on the students.”

“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,” Griffin said in a previous statement.