New College Of Florida Votes To Keep DeSantis Ally As President
Brandon Poulter on October 3, 2023
The New College Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to keep an ally of Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as its president, according to Axios.
Richard Corcoran is a former Republican legislator in the state of Florida as well as the former education commissioner, according to Axios. Corcoran will now continue as president after being appointed as interim president in January after being chosen from among a pool of three candidates in a 10-2 vote.
“I think he’s done a great job getting us where we are today. I know we have a lot of work going forward,” Trustee Lance Karp said, according to The Associated Press.
The two other candidates for president included associate professor from the University of Central Florida Tyler Fisher, the student favorite, and former interim president at the University of Mount Union in Ohio, Robert Gervasi, according to Axios.
“The reason that I would lean toward … Interim President Corcoran is because of the special circumstances here,” Board Member David Bauerlein said at the meeting, according to Axios. “The external issues, the political issues, the contacts in Tallahassee.”
DeSantis appointed six new members to the New College Board of Trustees in January, who then shortly after ousted the former president of the board, Patricia Okker, according to Axios. Chris Rufo, a member of the New College Board of Trustees, said that Okker had been fired due to being “unable to stand up to the ideological bullies on campus” and for lacking “vision.”
Student Body President Grace Keenan and Faculty Trustee Amy Reid voted against Corcoran, according to Axios. Before the vote, Reid attempted to table it.
The New College Board of Trustees voted to abolish the gender studies program at the college in August and axed the diversity, equity and inclusion office in March. A group of professors and students at New College sued DeSantis in August, alleging that Florida’s law barring DEI in public schools and universities is unconstitutional.
Reid criticized Corcoran and said, “he has failed to build any consensus on campus,” according to Axios.
New College of Florida did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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