The College Fix

Trustee says school is first in the country to ‘abolish its DEI bureaucracy’

Conservative trustees at Florida’s New College recently voted to abolish the school’s Office of Outreach and Inclusive Excellence.

Governor Ron DeSantis recently announced that he wants to see New College turn around and become a quality university again – he has been critical of how woke ideology has overtaken the once prestigious school.

Inside Higher Ed reported:

Trustees, led by a swath of new conservative appointees installed by Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, and the Republican-led Florida Board of Governors, voted [on Feb. 28] 10 to 3 to eliminate the office and authorize college leaders to make personnel changes, as needed. The office, according to a report delivered at the meeting, has four full-time employees.

Trustee and investigative journalist Christopher Rufo celebrated the news on his Twitter account.

“New College of Florida has become the first university in the nation to abolish its DEI bureaucracy, ban coercive ‘diversity” statements and programming, and prohibit identity-based preferences in hiring, admissions, and other procedures,” he wrote.

BREAKING: New College of Florida has become the first university in the nation to abolish its DEI bureaucracy, ban coercive “diversity” statements and programming, and prohibit identity-based preferences in hiring, admissions, and other procedures.

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) February 28, 2023

The New College overhaul is part of a broader effort by Gov. DeSantis to improve higher education, including trying to institute a ban on DEI initiatives at public universities across the state, as well as promote excellence, focus on Western Civilization, install post-tenure review, and forbid mandatory diversity statements for hiring and tenure, as The College Fix previously reported.

The college has struggled for years.

“Founded in 1960, New College has struggled to boost its enrollment numbers, failing to meet a target set in a 2018 strategic plan to reach 1,200 students by 2023. Republican lawmakers in 2020 considered proposals to merge the institution with another state school,” The Wall Street Journal reported.

MORE: Pagan alumni upset at DeSantis’ New College agenda

IMAGE: Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons

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