Fired leftist New College of Florida professor tells socialists to bring ‘fugitive pedagogy’ to the state

A former New College of Florida (NCF) professor told attendees at the Socialism 2023 Conference in Chicago Sept. 2 to bring their “fugitive pedagogy” with them to Florida.

“Come to Florida,” Erik Wallenberg said during the “Fighting Fascism in Florida” session, according to audio obtained by undercover journalist Karlyn Borysenko. “Bring your fugitive pedagogy. Bring it with you. Incite some fire.”

Wallenberg said the atmosphere in Florida needs to shift. “There are costs,” he said, according to the audio. “I lost my job. There are students that were driven out of college. We’re paying the cost. We know that that’s going to happen.”

Wallenberg’s contract at NCF was not renewed after Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed a new interim president and six new trustees, including Christopher Rufo, in efforts to turn the College into “a little Hillsdale,” referencing the conservative, Christian college in Michigan.

[RELATED: New College of Florida receives additional $15 million from state]

“New College of Florida has let the contract for visiting professor Erik Wallenberg expire,” Rufo, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, tweeted in June. “He will not be returning to the campus. I wish Professor Wallenberg well and hope his work on ‘radical theatre and environmental movements’ finds a more suitable home.”

New College of Florida has let the contract for visiting professor Erik Wallenberg expire. He will not be returning to the campus.

I wish Professor Wallenberg well and hope his work on “radical theatre and environmental movements” finds a more suitable home. https://t.co/9bT2XBANMG

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) June 6, 2023

At the conference, Wallenberg called Rufo one of DeSantis’ “fascist lieutenants” who carries out this “dirty work,” according to the audio captured by Borysenko.  

“I just want to take a minute to talk about those minions, because I think that’s important, right,” he said, according to the audio. “The shock troops of fascism.”

“Christopher Rufo … the Smarmy Fellow of the Manhattan Institute who has attacked Critical Race Theory, labeled any teaching or discussion of racism as such and bragged about making the idea a toxic brand of the culture wars,” he continued, according to the audio. “And there are others. I won’t go through all the horror show, but I think it at least gives a picture of DeSantis’ fascist lieutenants.”

Wallenberg said the NAACP travel advisory sends a message that it’s unsafe for black people to travel to Florida in light of the Jacksonville shooting at the Dollar General store, according to the audio. Wallenberg called the shooting as a result of DeSantis’ “racist attacks on education, on history, and against black Florida.”

DeSantis called the travel advisory a “stunt,” saying there are more black-owned businesses in Florida than any other state and that the unemployment rate for black people is lower in Florida than in New York, California, and other blue states. 

[RELATED: New College of Florida students organize alternative graduation after DeSantis takeover]

Wallenberg said that what happened at New College will be exported and will happen at different colleges, according to the audio. “They’re coming for you, and you have to respond with your community and assume the worst from the other side,” he told the room of socialists, according to Borysenko’s audio.

“They can so quickly remake this institution, by next year, this time, it will be fully remade into a different institution if there’s not a bigger fight,” he said, according to the audio. “And that’s the big ‘if’ that I don’t know that we don’t know how to do it, but I think that it is going to have to be that sort of stepping up to much bigger activities.”

Wallenberg said that 300 new students are attending NCF that has 700 students, according to the audio.

“I’m not saying all those students are going to be right-wing Christian fascists either, right,” he said, according to the audio. “A lot of faculty are now trying to and students are trying to figure out how do we reach out to these students and introduce them into what New College has been, what we want it to be.”

DeSantis signed a bill into law in May banning the state’s public colleges and universities from spending money on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, Campus Reform reported. The Florida State Board of Education passed a rule in 2021 banning the teaching of Critical Race Theory at the K-12 level, Campus Reform reported.