One year later, New College's rebranding has produced tears, hostility and disruption

Tell the whole story about New College

Your Feb. 18 article on New College of Florida detailed what happened in the last year, but it left out the "how."

I’m a 1972 graduate of New College fighting against the untruths and cruelty of the new administration. I’ve talked with parents and students in tears at the treatment they’ve received from the new administration.

President Richard Corcoran was not straightforward with parents about classes that were canceled at the last minute because of his actions – or about programs that were no longer available because faculty members were fleeing.

New College Board Trustee Christopher Rufo mocked and savaged students and faculty to his huge online following. Returning students, many of them part of the LGBTQ community, were abruptly thrown out of their preferred dorms and shunted to hotels so athletes could have their dorms.

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A former staff member recounted on national news how Corcoran encouraged staff to misrepresent the college and “do whatever it takes” to recruit new “mission-aligned” students.

Athletes were enticed to enroll with scholarships, laptops and lowered admission standards. They were also misled about the then-nonexistent sports program.

This is only a sample of the dishonest behavior of the ideologists who started this hostile takeover by not telling the truth about what New College was teaching. Please tell the whole story.

Bruce Benidt, Port Richey

Formula for failure at new Bobby Jones

As a resident of Sarasota since 2008, I played the old Bobby Jones golf course many times.

I have now played the new “improved” Bobby Jones three times. It is boring and overpriced. Its “professional” staff are rude, authoritarian and genuinely unfriendly.

This is a municipal facility. It should be hiring, training and overseeing staff members who are courteous and customer focused.

It is not just the golf course that will entice or repel golfers; it is also the staff. It is no wonder that there are fewer and fewer players signing up.

The current staffing and pricing at Bobby Jones are a formula for failure.

Jeff Holmes, Sarasota

Biden impeachment doesn’t hold water

FBI informant Alexander Smirnov, a key witness in the trumped-up impeachment of President Joe Biden, has been indicted by a grand jury for lying to the FBI. Smirnov told the FBI that a Ukrainian company had bribed the Biden family.

The indictment was brought by special counsel David C. Weiss, who was appointed by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate Hunter Biden, the president’s son.

Weiss was first appointed as a U.S. attorney by former President Donald Trump, thus dispelling any notions that the Smirnov indictment was politically motivated.

Rep. James R. Comer of Kentucky, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, responded to the allegations but took no responsibility for spreading false claims about President Biden. He blamed FBI officials for privately telling the committee their source was credible.

The Biden inquiry is clearly bogus. Now that the key witness has been found to be lying, impeachment articles against the president should be immediately withdrawn.

Donna Linette, Punta Gorda

First, Hamas must free all hostages

Thank you, Herald-Tribune, for printing articles about the hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.

The world is so busy condemning Israel that it seems to have forgotten that Hamas broke a truce, invaded Israel and brutally murdered and mutilated innocent Israelis.

Hamas members took hostages that they refuse to release. Hamas is guilty of a war crime.

Demand that all hostages, dead and alive, be released. Bring Hamas’ leaders to justice. Then discuss the future of Gaza and the West Bank.

David I. Skole, Sarasota

Trump doesn’t deserve another chance

Why did more than 74 million people vote for then-President Donald Trump in 2020?

Campaigning, Trump often revealed what a terrible person he is by insulting and putting down innocent people. In addition, Trump's vile nature was on display through his easily proven falsehoods and lack of respect for the military.

Trump deluded the MAGA group into thinking he was the answer to our country’s “problems."

But the MAGAs were not a majority of pro-Trump voters. Where did the rest of those 74 million ballots come from?

I believe they were from honest conservatives who had never voted for a Democrat because their parents and grandparents never did. They were from folks who knew the GOP when it really was the Grand Old Party.

Those non-MAGA votes were cast by people who expected Trump would uphold the principles of their once proud and respected caucus.

Well, look how that turned out.

Trump only continued his pre-election meanness – and even more of his personality flaws came to light. And as president, Trump proved what a dangerous person he really is.

My hope is old-time Republican voters don’t give him another chance to ruin this country.

Robert Kushner, Bradenton

New College should get input on plans

Locals who might be suffering from "New College fatigue" – after a barrage of controversial actions by the college's trustees and administration since last year’s abrupt takeover and remake – need to keep paying attention.

On Thursday, Feb. 22, the New College Board of Trustees is scheduled to vote on a regulation that should concern the entire community – New College regulation 3-5101.

This regulation governs how the public provides input into New College's Master Plan, which identifies “general land uses” and shows where roads, facilities, parking, sewers and open space will be on the campus.

The board is poised to eliminate this regulation.

Why? New College certainly hasn't told the community the reason; instead of trying to make the community a valued partner, the college has been shutting local citizens out of the process.

As neighbors of The Uplands, a small residential community just north of the Bayfront side of campus – in fact, New College owns portions of our neighborhood, some of which we actually gifted to the school – we will be monumentally impacted by the college's proposed Master Plan.

We have seen the renderings of a 100,000-square-foot conference center, called the Freedom Institute, that looks like a cruise ship squeezed onto a sliver of space on the untouched bayfront that is adjacent to our neighborhood.

There are also plans to open up a north-south extension of Uplands Boulevard that runs through our neighborhood – a move that would increase traffic by possibly hundreds of daily car trips through this community of 110 homes.

In August 2023, Uplands neighbors began reaching out to New College leadership.

We asked to be kept apprised on campus changes and the college's Master Plan. We asked to have a representative of our neighborhood on the Master Planning committee. We asked to be involved in the process.

New College had a choice. It chose not to ask for our input.

This doesn’t just affect our neighborhood. This is an area of wetlands that should be carefully examined and protected for possible damage to water quality and wildlife.

Good leaders understand that you build support and value stakeholder input.

We respectfully request that public input and transparency be made part of the Master Plan process – and that regulation 3-5101 is not eliminated by the college.

Don Popovitch, Sarasota

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: The 'new' New College has mistreated students and parents