Governor Ron DeSantis Commends New College of Florida’s Transformation under Newly Appointed Board of Trustees

New College of Florida experiences record enrollment, becomes first public university to push back on gender indoctrination

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Today, Governor DeSantis commended the success of New College of Florida (NCF) under the leadership of Interim President Richard Corcoran. This follows the Governor and the Board of Governor’s appointment of seven new members of the Board of Trustees, and approval of $52.7 million in total funding in the Framework for Freedom Budget, which included $25 million for operational enhancements and student scholarships. Under the newly appointed Board of Trustees, NCF is experiencing record enrollment with an increase of over 300 students this year, marking the highest enrollment of new students in school history, and over 800 students this year.

Additionally, the NCF Board of Trustees recently voted to begin the termination of the gender studies program, becoming the first public university to push back on gender indoctrination.

“The New College Board of Trustees is succeeding in its mission to eliminate indoctrination and re-focus higher education on its classical mission,” said Governor Ron DeSantis.

“A true liberal arts education teaches students how to think not what to think. While providing a classical, liberal-arts education was originally the goal of New College when it was founded, New College – like many other colleges recently – began going down a path of ideological indoctrination,” said Interim President of New College Richard Corcoran.  “However, the inspirational vision of empowering students with an education that provides them with the tools to be creative and critical thinkers is bigger than any of us. People are powerfully drawn to that idea and want an education like this for themselves and their children. That is why New College is succeeding – and why we are only going to grow bigger and better next year.”

Other highlights under NCF’s new leadership include:

• The replacement of far-left faculty with new professors aligned with the university’s mission.
• The elimination of DEI focused positions which comes with savings of over $200,000 dollars annually.
• An increase in first-year enrollment for Black and Hispanic students – a nearly four time increase of Black students and a nearly double increase of Hispanic students.
• The introduction of intercollegiate athletics outside of existing intramural sports by forming six teams and a scholarship fund for incoming athletes, and recruitment nearly 150 student athletes since launching the athletic program in the spring.

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