Ron DeSantis shakes up liberal university, appoints six members to the New College of Florida

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Ron DeSantis requiring Florida universities to report spending on diversity

Florida mom Quisha King expresses her support for Gov. DeSantis' decision, saying colleges need to be 'educating, not indoctrinating.'

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday made six new appointments to the New College of Florida Board of Trustees, including Manhattan Senior Fellow Christopher F. Rufo. 

Rufo's work has been featured on PBS, Netflix, and international television and has been notable for challenging critical race theory.

The New College of Florida in Sarasota, is a top-ranked public liberal arts college and is the designated honors college of the state university system. 

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DeSantis' news press secretary Bryan Griffin sent a statement to Fox News Digital claiming that the academic institution has been "captured by a political ideology that puts trendy, truth-relative concepts above learning."

 "All of these appointees have a firsthand understanding of the Florida education system as a product of their work with us and the Florida Department of Education on other important initiatives. We are grateful to them for lending their time and expertise to the benefit of Florida’s students," the DeSantis office told Fox News Digital.

"The New College of Florida is a public institution with a statutorily stated mission of 'provid[ing] a quality education.' Unfortunately, like so many colleges and universities in America, this institution has been completely captured by a political ideology that puts trendy, truth-relative concepts above learning." 

The statement added, "In particular, New College of Florida has reached a moment of critical mass, wherein low student enrollment and other financial stresses have emerged from its skewed focus and impractical course offerings."

Ron DeSantis cruised to re-election on November 8.  (Octavio Jones/Getty Images)

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Other appointments include the dean of the school of government at Hillsdale College Dr. Matthew Spalding, editor of the Claremont Review of Books Dr. Charles R. Kesler, Emory University professor Dr. Mark Bauerlein, New College graduate Debra Jenks, and Inspiration Academy Founder Jessie Spear.

Per the press release, DeSantis’ appointments underscore an "agenda" to "shift the university to a classical liberal arts model, restructure the administration and mission statement, create a new core curriculum and academic master plan."

Classroom with empty wooden desks. (iStock) (iStock)

DeSantis also wants to "abolish ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ and replace it with ‘equality, merit, and colorblindness,’ restructure the academic departments to reflect the new pedagogical approach, hire new faculty with expertise in constitutionalism, free enterprise, civic virtue, family life, religious freedom, and American principles Establish a graduate school for training teachers in classical education."

DeSantis’ appointments come after he mandated that all state universities report expenditures and resources used for campus activities that relate to diversity, equity, and inclusion and critical race theory initiatives. 

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Press Secretary Bryan Griffin shared a memorandum of Governor DeSantis’ Dec. 28 request on Wednesday. It mandated that each Florida College System and State University System institution provide a "comprehensive list of all staff, programs, and campus activities related to" DEI and CRT. 

Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis after taking the oath of office waves to those in attendance at his second term inauguration in Tallahassee, Florida, U.S. January 3, 2023. (REUTERS/Octavio Jones)

Furthermore, DeSantis’ championed a pro-parent agenda during his midterm election, which also included the endorsements of 30 school board candidates that aligned with that philosophy. 

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Among the 30 school board candidates that were endorsed, 24 won their races.

Fox News' Bradford Betz contributed to this report.