Patricia Okker
Chronicle of Higher Education
Excerpt: On Friday, January 6, 2023, Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican of Florida, announced six new members to the Board of Trustees at New College of Florida, where I was serving as president. The announcement was not surprising. For weeks I had heard reports that appointments were likely, and everyone expected trustees with strong conservative backgrounds.
In the weeks leading up to the board’s first meeting on January 31 — at which I was fired as president — the logic of this militaristic rhetoric became clear. Far more than a political shift in the governance of our small liberal-arts college, New College had become the epicenter of a debate about the future of academic freedom, shared governance, freedom of expression, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
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