Opinion: Drama at Harvard shows New College was only the start of DeSantis' master plan

The president of Harvard University has resigned and a New College trustee is receiving credit for forcing her hand.

Pay close attention, because this could have serious ramifications for the education system in this country and the ideological path it follows.

Christopher Rufo is the New College trustee who posted examples online of plagiarism committed by Harvard president Claudine Gay, and no one is denying that the national exposure Rufo generated factored into her seismic decision.

Rufo reveled in Gay's resignation, even posting on his X account that she was "scalped." For now, we'll forget how offensive that word is, but it's clear Rufo considers Gay's resignation a trophy in his fight against "wokeism" and not the rightful conclusion to disregarding higher education's most sacred principle.

Indeed, catching Gay plagiarizing was never the real issue here.  Plagiarism was simply a convenient weapon Rufo used as part of a bigger plan to rid all universities of DEI, which stands for "diversity, equity and inclusion,'' something he immediately dissolved at New College.

Rufo views Gay's resignation as a major blow to DEI, something to celebrate. He felt she was not qualified for her position. In other words, she was hired because she is Black.

"This is the beginning of the end for DEI in America's institutions," Rufo posted on X. "We will expose you. We will outmaneuver you. And we will not stop fighting until we have restored colorblind equality in our great nation."

A year ago, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis appointed Rufo to the New College Board of Trustees. The idea was to mold the school into a conservative institution where DEI "withers on the vine" as DeSantis has said.

New College's conservative facelift appeared to be an aberration. Turns out, that was not the case. New College was only the beginning of a concerted plan of attack that would begin in Florida and spread nationwide.

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Rufo is an author and claims to be an investigative journalist, and a few weeks after joining the New College board he met with DeSantis where he exposed "the 'diversity, equity, and inclusion' bureaucracy in Florida's public universities,’’ according to a post on his Substack page.

"I based my presentation (to DeSantis) on my recent investigative reporting series, which has revealed the process of ideological capture at four public universities,'' he wrote. "These programs preach the values of tolerance and inclusion, but in reality, serve as vehicles for left-wing racialist ideology and partisan political activism. They are designed to replace the system of academic merit with a system of race-based preferences and discrimination which, in many cases, explicitly violates federal civil rights law. Here are the headlines from these investigative reports:

"Florida State University divides students according to a 'matrix of oppression' and offers a racially segregated scholarship that deliberately bars white students from applying.

"Florida International University condemns the United States as a system of 'white supremacy' and trains students for participation in violent left-wing protests.

"The University of South Florida encourages students to attend racially segregated counseling programs and promotes 'reparations,' 'defund the police,' and 'prison abolition.'

"The University of Central Florida condemns the United States as 'white-supremacist culture' and encourages active discrimination against the 'oppressor' class, characterized as 'male, White, heterosexual, able-bodied, and Christian.'

"To address this problem, Governor DeSantis and Florida legislators have proposed a bill, HB 999, that would eliminate the DEI bureaucracy in all public universities statewide. This would immediately disrupt the process of ideological capture and send a clear signal to the rest of the nation that conservative taxpayers will no longer support left-wing political activism under the guise of neutral scholarship."

After that, they set their sights on the Ivy League. Now keep in mind DeSantis has degrees from Yale and Harvard Law School but he doesn't seem to value them. He considers two of the most prestigious universities in the world too liberal.

"I viewed having earned degrees from Yale and Harvard Law School to be political scarlet letters," DeSantis wrote in his recent book.

Considering his comments, it would stand to reason that Rufo would take on an Ivy League school such as Harvard, either on DeSantis' directive or as payback for being appointed to the New College board of trustees.

And what if DeSantis were to become the next President of the United States?

Rufo will have to be rewarded for his efforts in some fashion, won't he?

How does the Secretary of Education sound?

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: First New College, then Harvard, in DeSantis plan to reform higher ed