SURPRISE SURPRISE

DeSantis’ College Takeover Complete With Pal Named as Full-Time Prez

Richard Corcoran has spearheaded changes at the New College of Florida since he was given the interim presidential gig in March.

New College of Florida’s board voted Tuesday to make Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ pal Richard Corcoran as the university’s full-time president—seemingly solidifying DeSantis’ takeover of the tiny public university in Sarasota. It was an expected decision from the board, which was controversially overhauled by DeSantis earlier this year. Corcoran, the former Republican speaker of the Florida House and a close DeSantis ally, was given the interim reigns to the university in January with a whopping annual salary of $699,000—more than double what his ousted predecessor, Patricia Okker, made in the same role. New College of Florida, which has an enrollment of less than 1,000 students, has been an inflection point in DeSantis’ battle to overhaul education policy in Florida. Under Corcoran’s leadership, the university has already eliminated the women and gender studies program, denied faculty tenure without explanation, and eliminated the university’s diversity, equity and inclusion department.