Tuesday's letters: DeSantis appointees turning New College into mediocre institution

Board is altering New College by decree

The tragedy at New College is that its stakeholders – students, alums, faculty, parents and allies – don’t want the school to move in the direction clearly favored by its autocratic board of trustees and interim president.

The new regime seems to want to stamp out everything that makes New College the singular institution it has been for the past 60-plus years.

Colleges evolve organically, not by the decrees of self-serving political hustlers. New College does not want an athletic program, a mascot or the imposition of some quasi-religious white patriarchal curriculum.

More: New College president fires diversity dean

More: NCF launches athletic department

More: How to send a letter to the editor

We the stakeholders already see the changes taking place: Board meetings include the conspicuous presence of police, student demonstrators are thrown out for using bad language and tenure is denied to worthy professors.

The changes imposed on New College stem from a flimsy right-wing theory: These conservatives believe they can fashion a college that will produce conservative students who will unquestioningly adhere to their orthodoxies.

They won’t accept LGBTQ+ individuals. They won’t talk about the historic oppression of African Americans. And they will unquestioningly accept what they determine to be the canon of Western literature.

The end result will be a mediocre school with little to distinguish it from other mediocre schools.

Florida residents can’t allow this to happen.Herb Guggenheim, Sarasota, 1978 New College graduate

Set politics aside, advocate for NCF

To Floridians of all political leanings: Keep the “real” New College of Florida as our unique Honors College.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and his allies attacked New College with a tsunami of lies, hypocrisy, self-aggrandizement and bullying. They committed state funds to programs and new hires while defying state regulations. They denied tenure to deserving faculty and blatantly seek to cancel academic freedom.

More: College board denies tenure for five professors

Year after year, U.S. News & World Report rates Florida the best state university system and designates New College as the No. 5 public liberal arts college, just after our military colleges. West Point costs taxpayers more than $240,000 per degree; New College costs less than $80,000.

These accolades reflect the extraordinary dedication of faculty, students, staff and prior bipartisan alliances.

Florida now votes strongly Republican. Does this mean most Floridians want to destroy our higher education system? I don’t think so. We offer excellent, varied choices for students and welcome out-of-state students who enrich our universities.

Please, set aside extreme politics and effectively advocate for New College.

Tell your elected representatives and neighbors that Floridians value the genuine New College. Demand your tax dollars be stewarded by trustees and a president who display integrity, competence and caring in governing New College. End the shameful “hostile takeover” by extremists whose agendas will ruin our state’s future success.

Sharon Landesman Ramey, Sarasota, New College 1965 Charter Class graduate, former New College Foundation board director

Tax collector glad for satisfied customer

The April 27 letter in which the writer recognized the service he received at the Mid-County Tax Collector’s Office was so kind and thoughtful. It means a lot to have someone take the time to say something nice.

Everyone in the Tax Collector’s Office strives to provide our customers with efficient, professional and kind service, which includes motor vehicle services. It is nice to know that the letter writer’s visit exemplified these qualities and that we have succeeded in our mission of exceptional customer service over his 18 years.

More: April 27 letters: Property insurance bills shock condo residents

I would like to clarify that my staff are not state employees. The Office of Tax Collector has an independent, locally elected officer accountable directly to the residents of Sarasota County.

That independence enables us to operate like a business and not a bureaucracy.

In the future, I hope we can count on the writer and all our customers to keep us accountable and alert us to any improvements we can make. We always need to hear from our customers.

Barbara Ford-Coates, Florida tax collector serving Sarasota County

My kids have a right to read banned books

As a parent, and grandparent, I want my kids to read the banned books. I read them when I was younger and learned much from them.

I hear our governor and the Republicans constant mantra about “parents’ rights.” Well, what about this parent’s rights?

Just who in Florida gets to choose which parents have rights and which don’t? The “Free State of Florida,” is a farce.

Dennis Blanchard, Sarasota

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: New regime stamping out the best of New College