So I know most of the right wing posters love DeSantis and in their eyes he can do no wrong. But exactly what is the beneficial rationale to staging a coup and replacing the current trustees of New College with 6 personal political appointments, some of whom have no ties to FL (Hillsdale religious zealot Spalding) and Ruffo (anti-CRT crusader and political hack) spring to mind.
In fact here is the press release from Ronnie's office, and these biographies really stretch to make these people sound qualified to "revise" a University they have no previous ties to. I mean Ruffo's "qualifications" are that he is a "senior fellow" at the Manhattan Institute and a tv documentarian with ties to "Conservative Governors"? Now that's impressive... This list is a joke...
And exactly what needs to be "fixed" at New college which only has 672 or so enrolled students, who are extremely happy with their situation? Or at least they were happy...
And why shouldn't they be? I have no idea how US News rankings are currently viewed among academic ranking snobs, but I assume that they still carry some weight. So I'm not sure how Ron can argue with a straight face that New College was in need of better academic quality. Because they were ranked as the #5 PUBLIC school in the 2022-23 Best college rankings...
And before someone wants to reply with some DANC level of nonsense about "wokeness" influencing the rankings, be advised that the top 4 public schools ranked higher are in order US Navy,West Point, Air Force and VMI. So exactly how does a fruitcake idealogue like Ruffo figure to improve their academic standing?
In addition this Beast article which spawned this thread maintains that New College is also known for "pumping out Fullright Scholars", and when I checked I saw 86 in the 55 yrs since 1968.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/tiny-college-hijacked-woke-obsessed-021158986.html
So exactly how does paying Corcoran ($700,000) which is more than twice the salary of his predecessor benefit anyone but DeSantis and his cronies/political allies? One of the alumni who is helping to lead the fight back effort from students,faculty,parents and alumni is an Associate Professor at Oxford.
So with a litany of extremely successful alumni as testament to the school's academic prowess, how does DeSantis's Chief of staff telling the Daily Caller that the goal is to turn New College into "the Hillsboro of the South" remotely strike anyone with half a brain as sensible or desirable?
And now comes word that Florida's GOP is flirting with switching their standardized testing from the SAT to the CLT which is characterized as a "classical and Christian alternative"? And they are contemplating eliminating AP courses altogether. What's next, Ruffo as the nationwide curriculum Czar?
IMHO, this is why DeSantis will never win a general election nationally. He's too much of an idealogue and borderline religious zealot/authoritarian to win in battleground states.
The more these sort of dictatorial moves are exposed, the less appealing he will be to moderates. I think appearing with both Mastriano and Lake at rallies in PA and AZ respectively were moves that will help him in GOP Primaries, but video that will come back to haunt him in both states should he be the GOP nominee.
In fact here is the press release from Ronnie's office, and these biographies really stretch to make these people sound qualified to "revise" a University they have no previous ties to. I mean Ruffo's "qualifications" are that he is a "senior fellow" at the Manhattan Institute and a tv documentarian with ties to "Conservative Governors"? Now that's impressive... This list is a joke...
And exactly what needs to be "fixed" at New college which only has 672 or so enrolled students, who are extremely happy with their situation? Or at least they were happy...
And why shouldn't they be? I have no idea how US News rankings are currently viewed among academic ranking snobs, but I assume that they still carry some weight. So I'm not sure how Ron can argue with a straight face that New College was in need of better academic quality. Because they were ranked as the #5 PUBLIC school in the 2022-23 Best college rankings...
And before someone wants to reply with some DANC level of nonsense about "wokeness" influencing the rankings, be advised that the top 4 public schools ranked higher are in order US Navy,West Point, Air Force and VMI. So exactly how does a fruitcake idealogue like Ruffo figure to improve their academic standing?
In addition this Beast article which spawned this thread maintains that New College is also known for "pumping out Fullright Scholars", and when I checked I saw 86 in the 55 yrs since 1968.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/tiny-college-hijacked-woke-obsessed-021158986.html
So exactly how does paying Corcoran ($700,000) which is more than twice the salary of his predecessor benefit anyone but DeSantis and his cronies/political allies? One of the alumni who is helping to lead the fight back effort from students,faculty,parents and alumni is an Associate Professor at Oxford.
So with a litany of extremely successful alumni as testament to the school's academic prowess, how does DeSantis's Chief of staff telling the Daily Caller that the goal is to turn New College into "the Hillsboro of the South" remotely strike anyone with half a brain as sensible or desirable?
And now comes word that Florida's GOP is flirting with switching their standardized testing from the SAT to the CLT which is characterized as a "classical and Christian alternative"? And they are contemplating eliminating AP courses altogether. What's next, Ruffo as the nationwide curriculum Czar?
Florida state officials are weighing 'classical and Christian' alternative to the SAT: report
The Classic Learning Test, billed as "intellectually richer" than other standardized tests, is largely used in private schools and home-schooling.
www.yahoo.com
IMHO, this is why DeSantis will never win a general election nationally. He's too much of an idealogue and borderline religious zealot/authoritarian to win in battleground states.
The more these sort of dictatorial moves are exposed, the less appealing he will be to moderates. I think appearing with both Mastriano and Lake at rallies in PA and AZ respectively were moves that will help him in GOP Primaries, but video that will come back to haunt him in both states should he be the GOP nominee.
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