The Chair of New College’s Alumni Association has resigned in protest of the university administration’s “mismanagement and wasteful spending.”
“The feedback I get from the thousands of alumni is that New College graduates have lost confidence in the college’s administration and see its runaway spending as unsustainable,” said Ben Brown, who announced his resignation Monday morning.
The education lawyer now plans to petition the Legislature and Board of Governors on preserving the education model at New College and put a stop to current spending habits.
The move follows more than two years of criticism since Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a conservative makeover of the small liberal arts college, a onetime haven of progressive activism. The new Trustees promptly fired the university President and installed Richard Corcoran, DeSantis’ former Education Commissioner, in the role instead.
Brown, a former Student Body President for New College, said he has tried to work with Corcoran’s administration in hopes of preserving the school’s learning model. But he said Corcoran has allowed little involvement, transparency or communication, which has resulted in a sharp drop in alumni donations to the university.
“The alumni community is not monolithic and has a diversity of political views,” Brown said. “But the operational and fiscal mismanagement of the College became too much for almost everyone.”
Brown said he is now joining an alumni-composed lobbying group calling for accountability at New College. Brown listed a series of what he considered unacceptable actions by the school leadership, including firing LGBTQ staff.
The school was among the first in the state to eliminate all diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Brown also noted that Corcoran’s contract now provides $1.3 million in pay and benefits, roughly twice the compensation of predecessor Patricia Okker.
This has accompanied an exodus of longtime faculty and students from the school, and a precipitous drop in national rankings of colleges and universities.
As chair of the Alumni Association, Brown also had an ex officio position on the New College Foundation board but has resigned his seat there as well. He alleged the administration has misappropriated foundation funding to pay for high administration salaries and for sports programs introduced under Corcoran’s leadership.
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