New College ‘ready’ to sign Trump’s Higher Ed Compact
New College of Florida says it 'will happily' sign the Trump administration’s 'Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.'
University President Richard Corcoran says the school already meets the Compact's requirements, such as supporting free speech and eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programming.
New College of Florida in Sarasota says it “will happily” sign the Trump administration’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.”
The Compact offers preferential access to federal funding for colleges that take measures such as eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, protecting single-sex spaces, and upholding campus free speech.
New College of Florida President Richard Corcoran stated the school already meets many of the Compact’s requirements.
“New College of Florida is committed to the ideals present within this compact, and we have already been instituting them for the past two and a half years,” Corcoran wrote in a press release. “We have no affirmative action or DEI, and we have been building a campus where open dialogue and the marketplace of ideas are at the forefront of everything we do.”
Once considered a progressive institution, New College underwent a dramatic ideological shift after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed a new board of trustees in January 2023.
Under new leadership, the college abolished its gender studies program and eliminated its DEI office and requirements from hiring protocols. According to the governor’s office, cutting DEI faculty positions saves New College over $200,000 annually.
New College’s moves closely align with the Trump Compact, which aims to reshape higher education by rewarding schools that reject left-wing ideology.
[RELATED: Valley Forge becomes first college to join Trump’s Compact for Academic Excellence]
New College is among the first institutions to signal enthusiastic support. Valley Forge Military College in Pennsylvania was the first to offer to sign the agreement.
On Oct. 1, the administration invited nine colleges to sign the Compact. Seven rejected the offer, while the University of Texas at Austin and Vanderbilt University have yet to respond.
The deadline for colleges to sign the Compact is Nov. 21.
Campus Reform has contacted New College for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
