Florida governor and presidential aspirant Ron DeSantis decided that my alma mater, 700 student New College in Sarasota, Florida needs a makeover. He appointed 6 new trustees and expressed his desire for the publicly funded liberal arts college to be overhauled to better provide for the public good and to eliminate “woke” policies, practices and culture.
New College was founded in 1964 as an alternative private college with an innovative program of study emphasizing personal responsibility for learning using all available resources without the usual bureaucratic constraints. Private New College was folded into the University of South Florida in 1975 and eventually set up as New College of Florida, branded as “the honors college” of the Florida state university system. New College’s very low student faculty ratio (7-1 to 10-1) has made it an inherently costly investment. In 2021 Florida politicians introduced bills to fold it into some other state university. A new president was hired in 2021 to help the small college re-evaluate its academic, financial and political strategies in order to re-establish its long-term viability.
The college has continued to attract very high potential students, its graduates have a truly enviable record of graduate and professional study and fellowships, but its 5-year graduation rate is low versus comparable schools and its graduates disproportionately pursue academic, not-for-profit, small business and other non-traditional career paths so that the average measured financial success of graduates is not competitive with schools which produce students who pursue more conventional professional careers.
I hope that the 6 new trustees will invest some time to analyze the “current state” before seeking to overhaul, makeover or revolutionize the curriculum, culture, faculty and leadership. I believe that there is a large overlap between what really matters at New College historically and today and what conservative leaning Florida politicians, citizens and voters value.
The Individual Matters
New College curriculum and culture emphasize the central role of the individual in making life choices.
Personal responsibility for the student’s program of study is at the heart of the curriculum.
Freedom of thought is honored. Left, Right or Center. Various shades of left.
Freedom of expression. Academic freedom. Free discussion. Free beliefs. Changes. Exploration.
Humility. Great thinkers among classmates, professors and writers. Chances are good that your views are not “simply the best”. In a post-Freudian world we only “know” so much. Many have a “piece of the truth”. Pride is risky.
Authenticity. Consistency. Self-awareness. Embracing feedback and interaction.
Ideals Matter
Ideals matter. The unexamined life is not worth living. Politics, community, philosophy, religion and spirituality matter. Dead serious. It’s important to proactively explore options and make choices. Evaluate choices versus experience, data and new frameworks, paradigms and world views. Individuals are responsible for developing personal philosophies.
Growth and Learning Matter
College provides an opportunity for tremendous learning in many dimensions. So much to learn. Consider all possibilities. Personal quest. No limits to growth. The journey matters. There is no end to growth and learning, so develop those skills. “Still there’s more”. Embrace feedback and interaction, even when it hurts.
Community Matters
Community of learners and seekers of knowledge, wisdom, truth, beauty and meaning. Small scale community where “everybody knows your name”. Forced to interact and be authentic. Academic discipline and profession matter. Generation matters. Groups matter. Politics matters. Service matters.
Character Matters
Classical philosophy focused on “living a good life”. Authenticity. Humility. Respect for others. Openness. Personal responsibility. Tolerance/acceptance of differences. Dead serious. Excellence. Merit.
Competency Matters
Demonstrated learning. The Western Canon. Mastery. Results. Achievement. Research. Critical thinking. Written expression. Debate. Progress. Examination.
Creativity Matters
“Both/and” perspective. Multiple intelligences. Multiple perspectives. Interdisciplinary views. Paradigms. Two cultures. Theory and practice. Local and global.
Founded in 1964
The post-war economic expansion was followed by a culturally conservative 1950’s and then concerns about the role of the individual in a world where big business and big government dominated. World War I and World War II shattered simplistic modern expectations of “progress”. Romanticism and utopian socialism were in decline. Cultural critics worried about the sameness of suburbia, the organization man, the man in the grey flannel suit and “the lonely crowd”. Existentialist philosophy was very influential at the time. I think that New College’s curriculum and culture were shaped by this founding period. Existentialism focused on the individual in a different way than Ayn Rand, but clearly on the individual. The key insight was that “in spite of” the challenges provided by modern knowledge and society, an individual could move forward (maybe).
The relation between the individual and various communities was a clear focus. The contrast between existential “existence” and the historical emphasis on “essence” by philosophers and religions alike was unavoidable. The “solution” was to study, learn and grow, while accepting that final, deterministic answers were very unlikely. The best a person could do was to work through life considering the conflicting viewpoints and holding on to whatever he or she thought was best. This is a fundamentally “liberal” view, even if many/most of the implications greatly support historical conservative views that aim to preserve individual character and institutions.
Unavoidable Conflicts Between New College and Modern Conservatism (The Rub)
Rejection of civil and religious authorities. Belief that the individual must choose (and live with the consequences).
Inherently a “relativistic” perspective. There are many ways to frame situations, decisions, politics, religion, etc. No one view, perspective or paradigm is clearly correct. Individuals may embrace fixed perspectives but should accept that others might make different choices.
The classic western canon of received literature and science continues to evolve. There is value in having “everyone” share in the study of “the classics” but diverse perspectives also have an important role to play.
Individuals belong to many “communities of limited liability”. The nation or church does not automatically take dominant priority.
The global community and priorities may be as important as the national and commercial perspectives.
No one deterministic religious perspective is fully adequate.
Individual “rights” compete with the community’s rights and interests.
There is an intolerance of “intolerance” by left-leaning institutions like New College and its students, faculty and leadership.
Summary
New College was founded in the early 1960’s within a culture that raised up the individual in contrast to the conformist social norms of the state, community and businesses. Yet, it was a child of the US which embraced individualism even as it promoted patriotism. The New College curriculum and culture which I experienced in the 1970’s and which largely continues today supports this individual centered model of learning and personal growth. Most of the curriculum and culture is compatible with classic conservative views. Some of the beliefs are incompatible with more fundamentalist conservative views. New College has recently become a pawn in the national “culture wars”. I hope that the trustees will see the very positive role which New College can play in helping a small share of students to wrestle with the difficult questions posed today and contribute mightily to society.
Good News 
How did you find this college in the 1960s? What was the the main attraction? Did your boys have any interest in going? Are there other schools out there with a similar philosophy?
No grades, no required courses, 8-1 student faculty ratio, smart kids and faculty, sunshine, ability to start being an adult sooner. Even though it was “New”, it was in the college guides. Evergreen State College is very similar.