Dem
51
GOP
49
Ron DeSantis' immigrant-flights stunt is now several months old. It's not getting him headlines anymore; at least, not the kind he wants. And so, he's trying to move on to bigger and better things. His latest is his attempt to transform Florida's New College—a small, state-funded, liberal arts school—into a bastion of "traditional" education (e.g., classical texts, no gender studies courses, etc.). To this end, DeSantis has appointed a half-dozen archconservatives to the school's board of trustees, led by outspoken conservative activist Christopher Rufo.
The whole scheme is, if we may be blunt, all kinds of stupid. To start with, DeSantis, Rufo, etc. are reforming a mythical school, not an actual school. That is to say, right-wing pundits and politicians have slammed liberal arts universities in general, and New College in particular, as far-left propaganda mills that teach mostly communism, Critical Race Theory, and wokeism. This is nonsensical; even "progressive" schools have a curriculum heavy on traditional disciplines and subjects. If you want to take coursework in Plato, or early American history, or Shakespeare at New College, you can easily do so.
Beyond that, DeSantis and Rufo seem to have little idea of how college campuses actually operate. The conservative-dominated board of trustees can make as many pronouncements as they want about what the professoriate should teach. And you know what 99.99% of professors actually do with those pronouncements? Ignore them, and do what they've always done. Meanwhile, the student body at New College is not a randomly selected group of millennials. No, they are students who looked at all their options and chose New College because it best fit them and their needs. Changing the culture of New College to better mirror, say, Liberty University is no more viable than changing the culture of Liberty University to better mirror New College.
Of course, DeSantis doesn't really care what happens to New College. He just wants his anti-woke points before he moves on to the next target, whatever it might be. But the question of why he focused on this school, in particular, is potentially interesting. Certainly, because of its approach, New has a reputation for being "liberal." Think of, say, U.C. Berkeley vs., say, Dartmouth. Both of those schools are very prominent, but only one of them is well-known for its hippy-dippyness (though Berkeley also has plenty of courses in Plato, U.S. history, and Shakespeare, of course).
Beyond its reputation, New College is very small (an enrollment of about 700), especially as compared to the other public schools in Florida. It is a considerably weaker opponent than, say, Florida State would be. Put another way, DeSantis has a reputation for punching down, and his choice of New College does nothing to discourage that line of thinking. "DeSantis never goes after anyone who can fight back," observed one Florida educator.
We suspect that there may be a third reason that DeSantis targeted New College, though we haven't seen anyone else connect these particular dots. Like Donald Trump, DeSantis would very much like the votes of white supremacists, but he can't really court them openly. That means it's dog whistle time. Florida is home to a particularly large, vocal and politically active white supremacist community, and its unquestioned leader is Don Black, who is best known for running a hateful website we prefer not to name. Black was grooming his son Derek to take over the movement, and Derek was right on board... until he went to college. While in school, Derek Black was outed as a white supremacist, and though he was ostracized by many, he was befriended by a group of Jewish students who invited him to dinner each week in hopes of opening his eyes. It worked, and young Black ultimately renounced his racist views and became an outspoken lefty. What college did this happen at? Why, New College, of course. We cannot help but wonder if DeSantis isn't throwing a little red meat to Don Black and his ilk by "punishing" the school.
As the old saying, possibly from the pen of Maya Angelou, goes: "When people show you who they are, believe them the first time." With each bit of political theater that DeSantis adds to his ledger, it becomes clearer and clearer exactly who he is, and that first impressions, at least in his case, are not misleading. (Z)