Tag: board of trustees

Florida Gov. DeSantis-Backed College Trustees Push Creation of ‘Freedom Institute’ to Challenge ‘Cancel Culture’

Florida Capital Star Staff

The Board of Trustees at the New College of Florida submitted a $2 million budget request to the state legislature Thursday in order to establish a “Freedom Institute” that will seek to combat “cancel culture” in higher education.

The trustees, a majority of whom were appointed by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, say that the new institute will allow for the expression of dissenting views, according to the board’s July 6 meeting agenda, which outlines the proposal for the institute. The institute will also honor a commitment to upholding the right to free speech and will prompt civil engagement.

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Conservative Christopher Rufo Among the Appointees to New College of Florida’s Board of Trustees by Gov. DeSantis

Just the News

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed conservative activist Christopher Rufo and five other people to the New College of Florida Board of Trustees with the goal of restructuring the university’s curriculum to a “classical liberal arts model.”

Rufo, a Manhattan Institute senior fellow and filmmaker known for his activism against Critical Race Theory, was appointed on Friday along with Hillsdale College Professor Matthew Spalding, Claremont-McKenna College Professor Charles Kesler, former Emory University Professor Mark Bauerlein, Inspiration Academy founder Jason Speir and attorney Debra Jenks. 

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University Trustees Meddling Raises Questions About Possible Conflicts

Grant Holcomb
Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University campus

Florida’s public universities have numerous outgoing board of trustee members and there has not yet been any indication of who will be replacing them. In fact, some board members are serving past their term and have been accused of hiring friends.

Ben Wilcox from Common Cause Florida, a government accountability group, said Florida law does not expressly dictate what happens when trustees continue in their post past their allotted term.

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College Instructor Charged with Battery of Anti-Mask Mandate Demonstrator

Florida Capital Star Staff

A North Idaho College instructor has been charged with Misdemeanor Battery for allegedly assaulting a person holding a sign in support of the college’s Board of Trustees decision to repeal the university-wide mask mandate.

Rachelle Ottosen stood at the September North Idaho College Board of Trustees meeting holding a sign picturing a red circle with the words “Medical Fascism” inside and a slash through it. Ottosen told Campus Reform that she brought the sign to show her support for the Board’s August decision to repeal its mask mandate.

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