New College Board of Trustees denies early tenure to some faculty, extending controversy

Share
Christopher Rufo on the Board of Trustees seen laughing as the board discusses mascots to the chagrin of the audience. By Josh Holton/WMNF via YouTube (04/27/2023)

The New College of Florida Board of Trustees voted 7 to 4 Wednesday afternoon to deny tenure to five faculty members. Students and some board members worry about what this could mean for the future of the liberal arts college.

The vote followed an intense debate among the Trustees. Six of them were appointed by Governor DeSantis in January in an effort to create what he calls a classical education at New College. The Trustees were frequently interrupted by heckling from the crowd of students and others during the nearly 3 hour-long meeting. About 50 members of the public spoke in favor of retaining the professors by awarding them tenure. One student Brendan Hirsch called out a tweet by new conservative activist on the board Christopher Rufo.

“Maya Angelou once said, ‘When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.’ Let me read a tweet from our own Chris Rufo, quote, ‘We have successfully frozen their brand Critical Race Theory to the public conversation and are steadily driving up negative perceptions. We will eventually turn it toxic as we put all of the various cultural insanities under this brand category. The goal is to have the public read something crazy in the newspaper and immediately think of Critical Race Theory. We have decodified the term and will recodify it to annex the entire range of cultural constructions that are unpopular with Americans.’ When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”

During his report, interim president Richard Corcoran drew laughter when he touted rosy enrollment prospects and attracting new faculty. But Corcoran argued against tenure in light of his plan to overhaul the curriculum. One of the longer-term Trustees, New College professor Matthew Lepinski said the extraordinary changes bring the college to a sensitive moment.

“…where we also need a little bit of stability. And I’m concerned about the way that we might risk destabilizing programs to the detriment of our current students, if we go and categorically deny tenure to people who have demonstrated loyalty to the school.”

 The Board of Trustee’s legal counsel said the professors were eligible to reapply for tenure next year. Still, the majority of the board voted to deny early tenure for five applicants. That move prompted Lepinski to quit.

“I’m very concerned about the direction that this board is going, and the destabilization of the academic program. And so I wish you the best of luck, but this is my last board meeting. I’m leaving the college.”

Lepinski offered no further explanation for his resignation. The meeting adjourned with a crowd shouting “shame on you” at the remaining Trustees.

Watch the full meeting here:

Leave a Reply

  • (will not be published)

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

You may also like

Richard Corcoran
New College alumni group ‘appalled’ at recent school controversies

Listen: New College of Florida, the small Sarasota school that...

The Scoop: Fri. May 23, 2025, Tampa Bay and Florida headlines by WMNF

WMNF headlines including hurricane season, Tampa protests, Pine Island Preserve...

COVID-19 closures
Gulfport bans beach smoking

The Gulfport beach ban prohibits cigarettes and other tobacco products,...

Ahead of the fifth anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, Tampa protestors prepare to rally again

Listen: This weekend will mark the fifth anniversary of the...

Ways to listen

WMNF is listener-supported. That means we don't advertise like a commercial station, and we're not part of a university.

Ways to support

WMNF volunteers have fun providing a variety of needed services to keep your community radio station alive and kickin'.

Soul Party
Soul Party