By AndriiKoval @ Shutterstock.com
About five days ago, Francis Menton (the Manhattan Contrarian) presented readers with his suggestions on how New College in Sarasota, Florida, could make headway revamping what has become a progressive hotbed of “wokism lunacy.”
In an attempt to politically restructure the small, politically left-wing school, Governor Ron DeSantis appointed six new board members to New College. DeSantis is looking to refashion the New College as a classical liberal arts institution.
Menton’s #1: Replace
On Tuesday, signaling a broader leadership restructuring at the small school, President Patricia Okker was replaced. Of about 10 suggestions given less than a week ago, guess what was Francis Menton’s #1 suggestion?
- Replace the President. The current President, Patricia Okker, is a specialist in women’s and minority literature. That can’t be good.
Changing Direction
According to Ari Blaff in National Review, the board chose former Florida House speaker and state education commissioner Richard Corcoran to replace Okker as New College’s president.
The decision to replace Okker with Corcoran came during the board’s first meeting since DeSantis appointed six new members last month, with the intention of changing the school’s direction.
A Sad Reality
Recent changes had made her job more challenging, admitted outgoing president Okker. Christopher Rufo, among the six new trustees appointed by DeSantis, challenged Okker’s sentiment.
“New leadership is the expectation and I think it makes sense. I don’t think it’s a condemnation of Dr. Okker, scholarship or skills or character.”
A Restoration
Newly appointed New College trustee Matthew Spalding, also a dean at Hillsdale College in Michigan, called it a renewal, not a takeover.
Among Francis Menton’s other suggestions is concentrating on bringing prominent conservatives to campus and seeing if the radical leftists will engage in violent conduct for which they can be disciplined.
Those ideas will take a little more time to implement, Mr. Menton acknowledges.
But it seems like the new trustees and the Governor are not taking the slow route.
In appointing the six new trustees, Ron DeSantis is looking to refashion New College along the lines of Hillsdale College, a private conservative school, reports National Review.
DeSantis has defended the move as a last-ditch effort to save New College from being “completely captured by a political ideology that puts trendy, truth-relative concepts above learning.”
To read more from Francis Menton and his ideas on “How to Fight Wokism,” click here.
If you’re willing to fight for Main Street America, click here to sign up for the Richardcyoung.com free weekly email.
