Florida’s New College trashes LGBTQ+ books amid conservative takeover

The once progressive New College of Florida has trashed hundreds of books—including numerous LGBTQ+ titles from its now-defunct Gender and Diversity Center—instead of giving the books to students or re-selling them as allowed by state law, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported.

The college, which Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has tried to make more conservative, threw out the books on Tuesday afternoon. Students were neither on campus nor notified of the books’ removal, even though students have been given opportunities in the past to purchase books removed from the college’s library collection. In this case, local activists retrieved some of the books before they were taken off campus.

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Photos showed feminist and LGBTQ+ books among the trashed titles, including Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe by John Boswell, When I Knew by Robert Trachtenberg, and Cures: A Gay Man’s Odyssey by Martin Duberman.

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New College spokesperson Nathan March called the aforementioned reporting about the books’ removal false. March said that the books were trashed as part of the campus libraries’ “routine maintenance”and because the college’s gender studies program no longer exists. The college’s board of trustees eliminated the program shortly after DeSantis appointed numerous conservatives board members.

March said that Florida Statute 237 forbids books purchased with state funds from being donated or sold. However, the statute states that the college can dispose of state-funded property by transferring it to a private nonprofit agency or selling it openly to the public.

Amy Reid, a faculty chair and representative on the college’s board of trustees, said she hadn’t heard of the books’ disposal and was “visibly shocked” when shown images of them being throw away, the publication reported. She reportedly mourned for the loss of the books and said, “When you throw away books, you also throw away democracy.”

DEVELOPING: New College of Florida dumped hundreds of library books this afternoon.

The school also emptied the college’s Gender and Diversity Center, tossing hundreds of their books.

Working to file a story now. pic.twitter.com/073dU3A6mp

— Steven Walker (@swalker_7) August 15, 2024

DEVELOPING: New College of Florida has sent thousands of books to the dump @NewCollegeofFL @richardcorcoran @swalker_7 pic.twitter.com/Vhh2C1nyJq

— zander moricz (@zandermoricz) August 15, 2024

DeSantis said he planned to turn New College into the “Hillsdale of the South,” a reference to the private and infamously conservative Christian college in Michigan. 

In January 2023, DeSantis appointed six new members to the New College’s board of trustees who were loyal to him and his ideology – including far-right anti-LGBTQ+ activist Christopher Rufo. The college had a reputation for being progressive and queer-friendly, but Rufo said earlier this year that the goal of what has been described as a “hostile takeover of a liberal college” was to “provide an alternative for conservative families in the state of Florida to say there is a public university that reflects your values.”

“If we can take this high-risk, high-reward gambit and turn it into a victory, we’re going to see conservative state legislators starting to reconquer public institutions all over the United States,” Rufo said.

Rufo said the newly appointed board would conduct a “top-down restructuring” of the school that will involve designing “a new core curriculum from scratch.” He then proceeded to remove the college’s president and appoint a DeSantis administration official in his place.

By mid-July 2023, the college announced that 36 of its approximately 100 full-time teaching positions were vacant, adding to mounting evidence that qualified educators are fleeing DeSantis’s Florida. In October 2023, the school reported that 27% of its student body had dropped out, giving it the worst student retention rate in the public college’s history at just 64.9%.

Since the conservative takeover, administrators have painted over student murals and forbidden student orientation leaders from wearing pins expressing support for Black Lives Matter or the LGBTQ+ community, The New York Times reported.

Two complaints filed with the Department of Education last year said that the newly revamped college discriminated against disabled students and drove LGBTQ+ students out of the campus, CNN reported.

The college has also dismantled its office of diversity and equity, and must comply with a recently signed state law forbidding state-funded schools that “promote or engage in political or social activism” and offer courses “based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States.” 

During his time in office, DeSantis has waged war on public education, most notably through his “Don’t Say Gay” law and his vendetta against the teaching of racial and LGBTQ+ issues in schools.

In May 2023, he signed a law forbidding colleges and universities from spending state or federal funding on programs that promote political or social activism or “diversity, equity, and inclusivity” (DEI). DeSantis said such DEI programs often actually stand for “discrimination, exclusion, and indoctrination.” To comply with this law, the college closed its Gender and Diversity Center last year.

In 2022, DeSantis signed the so-called “Stop WOKE Act,” which forbids schools and businesses from offering educational programs on racism and gender-based discrimination. The law is currently on hold as a court considers its impact on constitutionally protected rights to free speech.

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