After a tumultuous spring semester at New College of Florida, during which Gov. Ron DeSantis' board of trustees began reshaping the liberal arts college in Sarasota, students are leaving for other schools.

 And the president of a school in Massachusetts that plans to take in more than 12 percent of New College's student body is blasting Florida's efforts, calling it a threat to the future of education in America.

"This is an authoritarian effort to limit free inquiry, to use the power of the state, which is backed up by the coercion of force and law, to forbid people from exploring the truth about our society and our world," says Ed Wingenbach, president of Hampshire College, which is offering an in-state tuition deal for New College students. "And if that is allowed to happen, it won't stop."

New College, the smallest of the 12 schools in the state university system, became a target for DeSantis and conservative activists because of its reputation as a progressive-minded college with a vibrant LGBTQ+ population and, according to its website, a student body of “free thinkers, risk takers and trailblazers.”

In January, DeSantis replaced six of the college's board of trustees with conservatives, including Christopher Rufo, a commentator from Seattle who has led a national effort against the teaching of critical race theory and the abolition of diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Moves Produce Fallout

The events are prompting many students and faculty to leave New College.

A large number of its 697 students have applied to other schools. Thirty-eight of about 90 full-time faculty members have resigned, a number even the school's provost, Bradley Thiessen, calls “ridiculously high.” 

A retired president of New College, Donal O'Shea, wrote in a recent newspaper op-ed piece that he has "never encountered a loss of this scale in my 50 years in higher education."

Rising third-year student Rhiannon Hanlon says the tumult has just been too much. "The New College that I'm grieving, like, truly doesn't exist any more," Hanlon says. "Even if I was staying, it wouldn't be what I want or what I've enjoyed."

Hanlon first considered leaving when President Patricia Okker was fired in February. "[Interim president Richard Corcoran] started getting involved, and I started seeing the changes manifest," Hanlon says. "A lot of plans to demolish so much of campus culture, take away so many different academic disciplines, not giving tenure to very deserving professors."

Hanlon, who's from Jacksonville and uses they/them pronouns, heads this fall to Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York as a public health and medical physiology transfer student.  "They have very similar open-course styles and a lot of emphasis on individual work and research," they say.

But the move will come at a cost. In-state tuition, fees, room and board at New College total less than $22,000. Many students can cover that with available scholarships.

At the private Sarah Lawrence College, tuition alone is $63,128. Room and board is nearly $17,500.

Hanlon says even with a full tuition grant, they'll need thousands in student loan grants. "I'll hopefully be able to get a job fresh out of college and be well-off enough to make those payments."

Sarah Lawrence communications director Falguni Smith says the school has received inquiries from other New College students. "We’re expecting three students and potentially more at a later time, after a potential gap term or two," she says.

A Generous Offer

In Amherst, Massachusetts, Hampshire College officials watched events unfold in Sarasota.  "It was very clear that the state of Florida was going to be using its political power to both impose a really narrow, politicized curriculum on New College," Amherst president Ed Wingenbach says. "We thought we should try to help."

College officials were concerned enough to make an offer to New College students: transfer to Hampshire and pay New College in-state tuition for the duration of their college careers.

"We're offering automatic admission to any student at New College. They're obviously really strong students," Wingenbach says. "It feels like it's our responsibility that these students not be punished or burdened by the actions of the state government.

"It's obviously somewhat expensive for us to match in-state tuition for Florida students, but it would have been hypocritical to offer that admission and then not make it possible for them to come," he continues.

To date, 88 students—more than 12 percent of New College's student body—have transferred to Hampshire or are in the application process, officials said. Twenty-five of them will join 40 other transfer students and 265 freshmen in Hampshire’s fall 2023 class.

With so many similarities in programs, Wingenbach says the transfer students shouldn't miss a beat. "Every New College student will be able to pick up wherever they were at the end of last semester and continue to make progress on the degree or focus that they already established without losing time or credit," he says.

Students such as Hanlon are packing up and preparing for the next chapter in their lives. "I'm definitely excited to move to a new place and have all these new opportunities a little bit earlier than I anticipated," Hanlon says.

"But it also is really sad and heartbreaking at the same time," they continue. "I met so many amazing people here and figured out what I loved learning. The fact that it feels like we can really do nothing to stop it is so disheartening."

Jim DeLa is a reporter for the Community News Collaborative. You can reach him at [email protected]