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Ready to take a victory lap, folks? Conservatives have pulled off the unthinkable—taking a woke, progressive college and transforming it into a traditional, conservative institution. And the best part? The entire transformation took just two years.
Chris Rufo, a powerful conservative activist who’s taken on the left’s “woke” agenda full throttle, is now the target of a massive liberal temper tantrum. Why, you might be asking? Well, because his work to help “de-woke” the New College of Florida two years ago has turned out to be wildly successful.
READ MORE: Folks, the pipe bomb hoax is about to explode…
The college has made a much-needed return to normalcy, embracing decent, traditional, and conservative values—and they’re thriving because of it. Now, liberals—like this whiny writer from the Sarasota Herald—are throwing a full-blown progressive hissy fit. The left is great at dishing out “cancel culture,” but they sure can’t handle it when the tables are turned.
However, the only thing Rufo and his fellow conservatives (including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis) “canceled” was the dangerous and twisted “woke” culture that’s destroying the country from the inside. Nevertheless, the left-wing media are in a complete tizzy over the undeniable proof that traditional, conservative values attract decency and promote success.
Now that New College of Florida has reached the two-year anniversary of its transformation into a politically conservative, classical education-oriented school, I think this is a perfect time to reflect on the “hype man” role that you – one of America’s major right-wing activists – have assumed during NCF’s facelift over the past two years.
I mean, who can forget all your polarizing social media trolling about the “old” New College – from deriding its past programs and employees to mocking the college’s students and parents?
And who can forget your various antagonistic public antics as a trustee, which have been so provocative at times that they even led one protesting New College student to spit in your direction?
You know, the incident you turned into a needless legal matter that was the epitome of heavy-handedness and overreaction? You know, the incident you could have likely resolved by simply demanding a public apology from the student?
Seething liberals are reluctantly giving Rufo his due—though in the pettiest, most scathing way possible—taking cheap shots wherever they can, yet still admitting absolute defeat. The Sarasota Herald piece goes on:
Yes, that one!
And, oh yeah: Who can forget the other divisive stuff you’ve done largely to draw attention to yourself while serving as a New College of Florida trustee?
You won
Still, all that said, there are two words I’m sure your critics just don’t want to utter when it comes to you. Yet they are clearly the two words that perfectly sum up your two years as a New College trustee:You won.
You won.
(Er, actually, is that four words? Even though they’re the same two words? Ah, but you get the point.)
New College of Florida is now a school that is singularly driven to carry out an unapologetically conservative mission that has been shaped by unshakably conservative values.
And none of that will change at any point in the foreseeable future – if ever at all.
If only we could take the blueprint used at New College and apply it to colleges across the nation—we’d be in great shape. So, how did they do it? Thanks to Chris Rufo, Ron DeSantis, and their allies, New College now has a politically conservative president—a former Florida House speaker and state education commissioner. And that’s not all. New College also boasts a stacked conservative faculty—a true “who’s who” of right-wing rockstars.
But here’s the thing: that blueprint already exists. Two years ago, when this transformation first started, we called on conservatives nationwide to replicate this at other colleges. That was a great call on our part because now we can see just how wildly successful this effort truly was.
[I]n any battle, whether military or political, speed, surprise, and decisiveness matter far more than mere strength. And at this very moment, Ron DeSantis and Chris Rufo in Florida are putting on a masterclass of this principle in action.
The domain of battle is education.
A month ago, nobody had ever heard of the New College of Florida, a tiny, “progressive” public college in Sarasota. Of the roughly 340,000 people in the State University System of Florida, the New College has fewer than 700 of them.
Now, the school is a national news story, because DeSantis’s administration is demonstrating that zombie left-wing institutions do not have to live forever. They can be torn down and remade, or defunded, if only there is sufficient will to act.
Despite its name, the New College isn’t new. It was founded in the 1960s, and until this month was a premier example of a taxpayer-funded university that was institutionally far-left down to its core. Like many such schools, it has a novel structure: instead of grades, students get written evaluations, and every semester students sign a “contract” to pass a certain number of classes. Students also have to complete an undergraduate thesis. Of course, the school puts a ridiculous emphasis on the buzzwords you’d expect these days: diversity, inclusion, equity, and so on. The New York Times itself bluntly described New College as Florida’s “most progressive” public college… a funny label to affix to a taxpayer-backed institution that is supposed to be politically neutral.
But the label won’t be around for long. In early January, out of nowhere, DeSantis announced a sweeping series of appointments to the New College’s board. In one day, six new trustees were named. Among them were Rufo, who should need no introduction, as well as Hillsdale government professor Matthew Spalding, and Claremont Review of Books editor Charles Kesler.
Mere days after his appointment, Rufo published a piece for City Journal laying out sweeping planned changes for the school.
Governor DeSantis has tasked us with something that has never been done: institutional recapture. If we are successful, the effort can serve as a model for other states.
[…]
My proposals include redesigning the curriculum to align with the classical model; abolishing DEI programs and replacing them with “equality, merit, and colorblindness” principles; adopting the Kalven statement on institutional neutrality; restructuring the administration and academic departments; recruiting new faculty with expertise in the classical liberal arts tradition; and establishing a graduate school for training teachers in classical education.
The changes at New College were nothing short of sweeping. If we could transform this formerly woke, progressive school, there’s no reason we can’t replicate this success across the nation. Our Revolver piece goes on:
On Monday, the Tampa Bay Times reported on the radical possibility that the new board of trustees might demote the New College’s president to an interim role. All of a day later, the blow had already landed, even harder than imagined:
The New College Board of Trustees has voted to terminate the contract of President Patricia Okker.
Trustees also voted to appoint former Florida House speaker and Florida Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran as interim president.
Corcoran will not be available until March; trustees also approved naming Okker’s chief of staff, Dr. Bradley Thiessen, to the position until Corcoran can assume the office.
Bam. The critical blow was struck, with minimal buildup and decisive impact. There is no pretense of “working with” a leader who will obviously be hostile, no sham review period or drawn-out consideration.This is not a gradual cultural change. This is not a “long march through the institutions.” This is a taking by storm, and it is being made clear immediately. Local write-ups of the change of power have repeatedly emphasized how rapid and stunning the change has been:
Well after the scheduled 5 p.m. end of the meeting, the board moved to fire Okker effective immediately.
“Their plan includes my termination as president,” she announced, citing social media posts from two trustees in recent days. She added: “The support I feel in this room is tremendous, but I’m going to let you down.”
The audience booed, some urging her not to leave. Some students broke into tears, others stood and left the room.
“That was not how I thought this was going to go,” Okker said.
…
People lingered in the overflow room, incredulous.
“Where were the rest of the board members?” one woman shouted.
This was a great piece two years ago, but especially now that New College is a proven success. We encourage everybody to read it:
This is how we take our nation back from the woke left. They’ve infiltrated and taken over many of our sacred institutions, and their stranglehold on America’s young people through these woke, Marxist schools is nothing short of devastating. But now we know—it’s not impossible to undo the damage.
New College stands as the perfect example and the blueprint we need to make America’s education great again.
So, what are we waiting for?
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