"“You have this odd liberal arts college in a relatively conservative part of Florida. But at the time, there were a lot of Republican politicians who were really supportive of the school and saw it as an asset for the community,” Shickler said."
"“Declaring the once politically neutral college a place of ‘ideological conformity’ and ‘woke activism,’ DeSantis vowed to turn the campus into a ‘Hillsdale of the South,’ invoking the small, private Christian liberal arts college in Michigan that—unlike New College—does not take government funding.”"
"“DeSantis appointed Christopher Rufo and five other conservative trustees to the board, who fired then-president Patricia Okker and axed the DEI office, among other things.”"
"“I found myself asking, how did we get from there to this takeover?” he said. “I was thinking, is this just the same story we've seen for issue after issue or is there something distinctive about higher ed that differentiates it from abortion, civil rights, gay rights and lots of other issues where the parties have polarized?”"
New College of Florida was once supported by many Republican politicians despite being located in a conservative part of the state. In January 2023, Governor Ron DeSantis launched a political attack on the college, describing it as promoting ideological conformity and woke activism. DeSantis pledged to reshape the campus into a “Hillsdale of the South,” referencing a Christian liberal arts model that does not rely on government funding. He appointed conservative trustees who removed the president and eliminated the DEI office. The resulting turmoil led Eric Shickler to investigate whether higher education follows the same polarization patterns as other political conflicts, using party-platform text data from 1980 to 2025.
Read at Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs
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