Next month, New College of Florida will welcome activist and writer Steve Sailer, a ‘proponent of scientific racism’

New College of Florida (NCF) will host the extremist writer Steve Sailer, who has been described as a “white supremacist” and a “proponent of scientific racism”, at a college-branded public event next month.

New College has made headlines since January 2023, when the rightwing governor, Ron DeSantis, vowed to transform it from a university known for liberal values into a conservative institution, and installed a new board of trustees including the rightwing culture warrior Christopher Rufo. That board in turn appointed DeSantis’s “close ally” Richard Corcoran as the new college president, in which role he makes a $699,000 salary.

DeSantis’s lieutenants’ actions at New College – like abolishing disciplines, removing bathroom signage and denying professors tenure – have seen the departure of more than a third of the faculty, and given rise to myriad legal actions.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    It’s not so random. It was one of the most progressive schools in the country with a very left-wing student body. This was a targeted attack on what DeSantis viewed as an indoctrination school.

    My brother went to New College. Other than being in Florida, it was a great school that DeSantis has destroyed.

    • PrincessLeiasCat@sh.itjust.works
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      3 months ago

      Oh wow, that’s interesting insight, thanks for the details. I’m in Texas and it’s like a pissing contest between Abbott & Desantis to be the most shitty state.