New College of Florida expects enrollment boost after adding athletics department

SARASOTA, Fla. (FLV) – Interim President of New College of Florida Richard Corcoran told Florida’s Voice he expects an enrollment boost after the college added an athletics department.

New College hit national headlines after Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed a majority of the board of trustees, where they made sweeping changes.

Corcoran noted the college’s history of struggling enrollment rates and said he believes four new sports will bring at least 100 students.

“What really matters in growing enrollment, is having amenities for students, and great courses, which we’re going to add more great courses. It includes great extracurriculars, which are sports, so we’re adding those,” Corcoran said. “We’ll have soccer, basketball, baseball, and softball, and that’s going to help grow enrollment.”

New College is a top-ranked public liberal arts college that has around 700 students and over 90 full-time faculty.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune originally published a story with a headline, “New College struggling with enrollment after Ron DeSantis’ overhaul.” The headline was later changed.

Corcoran told Florida’s Voice that “it’s just not true – at all” and that they are about to “blow the doors off” enrollment.

“What’s really struggled at New College, if you look at our enrollment history, most years, in the last 10 were below 200 [per freshman class]. You can’t get more anemic than below 200. I think we’re going to smash past 200, we may even reach 300. If we get to 300, it is the record enrollment for New College in its history since 1960 – that’s our goal,” Corcoran said.

Corcoran said with the sports, extracurricular activities and additional money they are receiving from the legislature, they are “reinventing student life – right on the water.”

“We’re the only university in the whole system that has its own beach. I mean, it’s beautiful,” Corcoran explained.

New College will be joining the the Sun Conference, which is a part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics – a college athletics governing body for small college athletics programs. 

Corcoran told Florida’s Voice that they will add eight teams, which include men and women’s soccer, basketball, baseball and softball.

They currently offer sailing, rowing, rock climbing, tennis, swimming, intramural basketball, soccer and powerlifting.

New College has a Bayfront property on campus, where they host events, that includes a beach, dock and boathouse.

“We’re pretty confident that we’ll begin to break enrollment records, if not right away, certainly, in the years ahead,” Corcoran said.

New College’s budget includes $15 million approved by the Legislative Budget Commission that will be used for hiring faculty, offering student scholarships, and covering additional operational costs “necessary to transition into a world-class classical liberal arts educational institution.”

Previously, DeSantis said he expects to see “positive results very quickly” after the college received additional funding for recruitment.

Newly hired Athletic Director and Head Baseball Coach Mariano Jimenez has been tasked with bringing in coaches and student-athletes for the fall – a process which is already underway.

Jimenez told Florida’s Voice that inquiries into the athletic program are “through the roof.”

“I’m on the phone 10 hours a day with recruits, coaches, and people who are excited about what’s going to happen here. The interest level is extraordinary,” Jimenez said.

The process of bringing New College into the Sun Conference was assisted by President of Warner University, Dr. David Hoag, and President of St. Thomas University, Dave Armstrong.

“As soon as we heard that New College was interested in starting athletics, we just really wanted to come alongside of them, and kind of help along the way for them as they’re getting started with athletics next year,” Hoag said.

Hoag serves as the chair of the president’s board for the Sun Conference and Armstrong serves as vice-chair.

“We’re trying to grow our Sun Conference, and they fit within our footprint,” Hoag said.

Armstrong said athletics is a “great way to increase enrollment across the board” and is “always great for community spirit.”

Armstrong said although change can be “uncomfortable,” he encourages people to embrace it.

“Embrace it, and see how good it can be. Just because it may be – to you – unknown, doesn’t mean it’s not going to be great. Change is good in the world, it’s a good thing,” Armstrong said.

In February, DeSantis’ new appointees to the board of trustees made massive changes, including abolishing the institution’s “equity” ideology for a merit-based approach.

The appointees also ousted the college’s president, Dr. Patricia Okker, and selected Corcoran as the interim president on Feb. 21.

Critics, including some current students, parents and staff, have spoken out about the changes to the college, both in person at the board of trustees meetings and online.

Opposers of the changes have another rally planned for April 26 at the next board of trustees meeting to “show support for faculty tenure, the Gender Studies program, and academic freedom at New College!”

On March 31, New College announced another big move – launching an intercollegiate athletics department and naming Jimenez as its athletic director and head baseball coach.

Jimenez told Florida’s Voice he was aware of the “resistance” following his announcement.

“You can go on my Facebook page, when they announced the hire, it was a lot of dirty comments on there towards me and my family. While there’s been a lot of resistance on there, the reality on the ground is, in my office, I can’t keep up with all the increase,” Jimenez said.

Jimenez, a former athlete, played and coached at his alma mater, Palm Beach Atlantic University, before playing professionally in Texas.

During his career, Jimenez served as a coach for Team USA Baseball and was a pro-baseball sports agent. Jimenez is an alum at IMG Academy, where he played and coached for a decade.

Jimenez said they are conducting a national search to bring the “best-qualified” coaches to help lead the athletics programs.

“We’re looking for other servant leaders – people who are going to really add value to our athletic department – as opposed to guys who are going to run their own program. We’re really looking for guys who want to be interactive,” Jimenez said.

“We don’t want to just be siloed – where soccer just takes care of soccer – and baseball just takes care of baseball – we want it to be interactive and inclusive. I think that’s a really important element,” he said.

The 10 schools in the Sun Conference include: Ave Maria University, College of Coastal Georgia, Florida Memorial University, Keiser University, St. Thomas University, The Savannah College of Art and Design, Southeastern University, Thomas University, Warner University and Webber International University.

Jimenez said long-term, they would like to build a complex on campus, but in the short-term, they are working with different municipalities across the Sarasota and Manatee counties to allow them to have practices and games.

When game time comes, Jimenez said they’re looking for student-athletes who can be “stars” in their roles.

“We’re gonna obviously have a tough fight here, I mean, you’re gonna have a lot of people who are resistant to what’s going on here, but if we’ve got a lot of people who have a servant mindset, who are humble, who are willing to do the tough stuff, you know, you’re gonna have to go through some tough things here at the university, if you’ve already said that, then this is the right place for you, and we’re looking for people who can star in those types of roles,” Jimenez said.

Jimenez said there are a lot of people concerned about the dynamic on campus.

“I think you’re going to see that the student body, what the student athletes and the sports can bring to this community, will only gel this community together, it won’t segregate the community. I think that’s something that a lot of people have a misconception about,” he said.

He explained they are focused on bringing in student-athletes that line up with their core values.

“They’re going to serve around campus, they’re going to be prepared to go through these tough things, and we’re going to elevate this campus, people who are different from us, we’re going to elevate that, people who don’t necessarily like them, we’re going to love them, even when they don’t like us,” Jimenez said.

“Those are hard things to teach and learn, but that’s the kind of student athlete we’re going to bring here, and that’s what our kids are going to be prepared for – they’re going to be prepared for life, you know, in the real world, once they leave the New College of Florida, because of the core values and principles we’re teaching them,” he said.