MA College Offers To Take In New College Of FL Students, Match Tuition

SARASOTA, FL — Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts is offering admission to New College of Florida students who are unhappy with the school’s recent conservative takeover by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The progressive New England college will even match students’ current cost of tuition at New College and ensure they don’t lose any credits during the transfer, according to a news release from Hampshire.

In January, the governor appointed six new conservative members — ranging from critical race theory naysayers to a dean at Hillsdale College, a conservative Christian college in Michigan — to the liberal New College’s Board of Trustees.

The new board also recently ousted its longtime president, Patricia Okker, and replaced her with GOP leader Richard Corcoran, the former Florida House speaker and Florida Commissioner of Education, as the college’s interim president.

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And in a move to abolish the college’s diversity, equity and inclusion office, Corcoran fired the department’s dean, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Hampshire said that it’s opening its arms to New College students “in response to the continuing attacks on (the college) intended to limit intellectual exploration, turn back progress toward inclusion, and curtail open discussion of race, injustice, and histories of oppression. By committing to impose a narrowly politicized curriculum on New College, the newly appointed trustees broke promises made to its current students to support a self-directed, rigorous education grounded in a commitment to free inquiry.”

The Massachusetts college consulted with student organizers “rallying to preserve New College’s distinctive approach to undergraduate education” before making the offer, Hampshire said. “The … college is proud to stand with students who crave a progressive education. Hampshire will provide a welcoming environment for all who want the freedom to study and act on the urgent challenges of our time, without ideological limits imposed by the state.”