this post was submitted on 11 Nov 2024
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240
Revealed: Florida liberal arts college in rightwing hiring spree after takeover (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 4 days ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world
22 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Summary

New College of Florida, once a liberal arts institution, has undergone a conservative overhaul driven by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and allies, who installed a right-leaning board and administration.

Led by Richard Corcoran, the college has hired faculty with connections to rightwing media and think tanks, sidelining traditional hiring protocols, according to an internal letter.

This transformation, viewed by some Republicans as a model for conservative reform in higher education, has sparked controversy, faculty pushback, and a significant drop in national rankings amidst a shift in curriculum and institutional focus.

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[–] SeaJ@lemm.ee 17 points 3 days ago (2 children)

The university president gets an absurd income of over $1 million per year. Almost $1500/year of a student's tuition simply goes to paying the president. University of Washington's president (references because I went there) also makes over a million but the school also has 51k students so each student gives the president a $20 per year.

The school also got hundreds of millions of government funds to revamp the school. DeSantis replaced the board with his friends, most of whom have no background in education. This whole thing is basically one giant graft.

[–] mr_robot2938@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Grift, not graft.

[–] SeaJ@lemm.ee 13 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Graft

the acquisition of gain (such as money) in dishonest or questionable ways

A grift would be them getting the money illegally through something like a con. Graft is technically legal but clearly dishonest.

[–] mr_robot2938@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago

Huh, TIL, thanks.

[–] andrewta@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

Could be a grift or a graft depending on your viewpoint.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 100 points 4 days ago (3 children)

This is so fucking depressing. My brother went to New College. He's neurodivergent, so it was a perfect place for him since it allowed him to structure his education in a way that fit his learning style.

All that is over.

What's left for people like him of college age today? Evergreen? Maybe a Quaker college?

[–] Arcynic@lemmy.world 42 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Tbh with the way things are headed it might be best for all Americans that wish to further their education to do it in another country, it'd be safer and more likely to be quality education. Everything here's getting gutted, dismantled, sold, and traded, in the name of bullshit.

[–] curbstickle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 4 days ago

That's my hope for my kids right now.

Still working out where to go, and of course the (lengthy) process of getting there, as well as an obvious step further than simply sending my kids off to college elsewhere...

But "Not the US" is the answer to far too many questions right now.

[–] Mirshe@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago

This is assuming that international colleges will even accept American institutional credentials for education going forwards. With how thorough this dismantling might be, we might go back to "oh, we didn't learn about the Civil War up in Nebraska, all we needed to know was how to run the farm" like it was at the turn of the last century.

[–] HK65@sopuli.xyz 5 points 3 days ago

As long as they can do it.

[–] dditty@lemm.ee 17 points 4 days ago (2 children)

There are other public liberal arts colleges, and private liberal arts colleges as well though they're much more expensive, obviously.

Crazy that 40% of the faculty at New College have resigned in the last year - it's mass exodus

[–] wjrii@lemmy.world 9 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

What's doubly sad here is that New College was not "just" a public Liberal Arts college. It was an educational laboratory and countercultural bastion in a state that has always had a pretty wide conservative streak. There were no set majors, and there were no traditional grades, just granting credit or not and then a narrative statement on your performance. It was so small it didn't make any significant dent in the Florida educational scene, but it was an important place for its community and an important symbol about the state's relationship to education. It was always known as a place for kids who were bright-to-brilliant but didn't fit the mold.

I went to a different public university in Florida (which has been dealing with its own meddling from DeSantis's ghouls), but I was low-key proud New College was there. This is like shoving a needle under somebody's fingernails, intentional torture that's painful out of all proportion to the measurable damage.

[–] skulblaka@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

That's not crazy at all, in fact I'm surprised it's only 40% considering conservative leaders have gutted, stripped and replaced everything the school stands for as well as rocketing down the school ranking lists because of it. I'd be more concerned about the 60% of faculty that remain, personally.

[–] phdepressed@sh.itjust.works 9 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Many are probably trying to find other jobs but may be location locked due to their partner/family. Or jobs may be hard to find because professorships aren't exactly easy to come by. Some may hope to somehow limit damage and protect at least some students.

[–] wjrii@lemmy.world 4 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Some may hope to somehow limit damage and protect at least some students.

Even something as simple as defending the idea that "tenure means tenure," and riding it out until DeSantis makes that a lie would be laudable IMO.

[–] wjrii@lemmy.world 11 points 4 days ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I went to a public college in Florida, and New College was known to be full of the state's smartest hippies. My Spring semester bed in the honors dorm, after my first foray to Texas, was freed up because the former occupant transferred from UF to New College.

It's a travesty what's happening to it. Students with means or a favorable FAFSA might find some joy at a place like Reed or Oberlin. Evergreen seems like a good option on a similar model. New College being public with that traditionally low in-state tuition was such an important option for some and symbol for others, though.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 7 points 4 days ago (1 children)

The real advantage for him at New College, and I know Evergreen is like this, is that he was able to completely structure his education to suit the non-standard way he learned. He did terribly in grade school but really well at New College.

Are Reed and Oberlin like that too? And you're right, New College being public, unlike those three, made it far more affordable.

DeSantis killed it. Asshole.

[–] wjrii@lemmy.world 7 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Reed may be somewhere on that path; they emphasize interdisciplinary programs and narrative grading. I think Oberlin is more of a traditional curriculum, but it's been a progressive community since the days of the Underground Railroad. I pretty exhaustively researched colleges in the mid 90s (then promptly chose the one that offered the biggest scholarship and three months later fell back on the best in-state option still available), but my mental data is pretty stale by this point.

My daughter is neurodivergent, but she's only eleven and so far still claims she wants to attend the nearest physical campus to our house and never move out, which sounds alright to me because she's fun and cool. We will see how the teen years affect this mindset, LOL.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago

My 14-year-old kid is also ND but she wants to go to art school. That sounds like a decent fit for a ND person if they have those skills (which she does).

[–] boreengreen@lemm.ee 40 points 4 days ago

Sounds like dismantling of education.

[–] andrew_bidlaw@sh.itjust.works 12 points 4 days ago

It's like the only chance for most of them to enter academia. To the grieve and disdain of the latter.

[–] d00phy@lemmy.world 5 points 4 days ago

So one more “Kinda College.” Awesome.