Small Florida College Worries about Government Involvement

Small Florida College Worries about Government Involvement

Willem Aspinall is a 19-year-old student at New College of Florida. He grew up near Chicago.

He called his school, near the small city of Sarasota, "a little bubble¹." The term bubble means a safe or protected area.

New College of Florida is a public liberal² arts college that is an independent school in the State University System of Florida.

The state recently changed the college's leadership group, known as the board of trustees, removed the president and closed the office of diversity and equity³. After that, Aspinall said the bubble "has kind of been burst."

Recapture the school

No plans have been written down yet, but the school's new leaders promised changes within 120 days. One of the new trustees is Christopher Rufo, who often writes about higher education and is critical of New College. He said his group is out to "recapture" the college. Some current students will leave, and the college aims to accept new ones who will be, in his words, "mission-aligned." The board will change the school's study programs.

The changes are part of what some people call "a war on woke" by the state's Governor⁴ Ron DeSantis and his allies⁵. Dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster says "woke" is a term that describes a person's attentiveness⁶ to issues of racial and social justice. But some people and groups, especially conservatives⁷ in the U.S., now use the word to attack and express their opposition⁸ to those who are "woke."

DeSantis is seen as a possible Republican⁹ Party candidate¹⁰ for the presidency¹¹ in 2024. Earlier this year, he called for new legislation¹² that would change higher education for colleges and universities in Florida.

DeSantis says he wants legislation that will generally require classes to be based on educational ideas rather than political ideas. He says he wants students to finish with degrees that lead to high-paying jobs. And he wants to ban public schools from supporting programs that put forward "divisive" ideas.

In addition, the Florida governor wants boards of trustees to have the power to reconsider a professor's job guarantee, called tenure¹³, at any time. And he is calling for university presidents to have power over the hiring process.

A different kind of school

New College is different from many large universities in Florida. With only 700 students, it has more in common with small liberal arts colleges in New England than the University of Florida, which has nearly 35,000 students.

Many students create their own study programs with the help of teachers. The students say they feel welcome to be themselves. As a result, New College brings in students who did not like being in other places. Some did not go to traditional high schools but learned¹⁴ at home.

The professors know all their students by name. Most classes only have about 10 students.

Elizabeth Leininger is a science professor. "It is one of the most unique places, I think, that exists in American higher education," she said. But with the leadership change, she said she is concerned one of her classes called Sex, Gender¹⁵, Mind and Brain might be canceled.

"I would have to think very carefully about how I am going to teach that class now," Leininger added. "There is very much a policing of ideas." So, she uses her personal email to discuss her concerns.

Olivia Pare studies biology at the school. She said: "I am here to learn. I am not here to be more ‘woke.'"

"Like, my professors are more stressed. There's just a lot more stress and anxiety in my education than I feel like is necessary. I just want to get my degree in peace, you know?"

Pare noted¹⁶ that students are no longer talking about science in her classes, they are talking about whether their professors will be permitted to keep teaching¹⁷ at New College of Florida.

Because it is small and open, the school is good for students like Lola White. White is both autistic and has ADHD, which makes it hard for her to center her attention on tasks such as schoolwork. But at New College, she has been happy for the first time.

"I felt like I could connect to the people here. The kids are accepting – of anyone. There is no judgment," she said. White said when she was having problems with her schoolwork, people offered help. She said she is going to stay at the school for the time being although some of her friends are leaving.

Changes coming

New College is not without its problems. Some buildings are old and need to be repaired. In some recent years, the school had fewer students than it would have liked. Other students said they would not mind going to school with classmates who have different opinions.

Some people at the school are already noticing that small things are different. For example, professors have been instructed to change the information they give at the end of an email. It can only include their name, job description, the school's address, and their phone number.

An event for students thinking about coming to the school was canceled with little notice. And cleaning workers washed off messages written on the side of a bridge on campus¹⁸. Some of the messages were critical of DeSantis and the new board members.

Aspinall, who talked about the bubble of New College, now worries that the new leaders will "take a school that does not indoctrinate students and turn it into one that does."

Words in This Story

bubble –n. a small, enclosed¹⁹ space often seen in soapy water

diversity –adj. the state of having many different kinds of people together in a group

equity –n. a word that can relate to the idea of fairness or equality

degree –n. an official document given to someone who successfully completes studies at a college

divisive –adj. causing people to disagree and to separate into groups

tenure –n. a university job guarantee saying that a professor will have their position for most of their career

stressed –adj. to feel tense or troubled

anxiety –n. a feeling of fear and nervousness about what might happen

unique –adj. not like anything else

autistic –adj. a disorder that causes a person to have problems forming relationships and communicating with others

1 bubble   

n.泡，水泡，气泡；泡影，妄想；v.(使)起泡

参考例句：

• The water begins to bubble.水开始起泡了。
• Their hopes of success have burst like a bubble.他们成功的希望已经成了泡影。

2 liberal   

adj.心胸宽阔的；自由(主义)的；慷慨的

参考例句：

• He has a liberal attitude to divorce and remarriage.他对离婚和再婚看得很开。
• This country adopts a liberal foreign policy.该国采用的是开放的外交政策。

3 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

4 governor   

n.统治者，地方长官(如省长，州长，总督等)

参考例句：

• The governor was an expert at fencing with reporters.这位州长是搪塞新闻记者的能手。
• He was elected governor of the state of California.他当选为加州州长。

5 allies   

联盟国，同盟者； 同盟国，同盟者( ally的名词复数 )； 支持者； 盟军

参考例句：

• The allies would fear that they were pawns in a superpower condominium. 这个联盟担心他们会成为超级大国共管的牺牲品。
• A number of the United States' allies had urged him not to take a hasty decision. 美国的一些盟友已力劝他不要急于作决定。

6 attentiveness   

[医]注意

参考例句：

• They all helped one another with humourous attentiveness. 他们带着近于滑稽的殷勤互相周旋。 来自辞典例句
• Is not attentiveness the nature of, even the function of, Conscious? 专注不正是大我意识的本质甚或活动吗？ 来自互联网

7 conservatives   

保守的人( conservative的名词复数 )； （英国）保守党党员，保守党支持者

参考例句：

• The Conservatives were then the governing party . 那时是保守党当政。
• The Conservatives were once more in power. 保守党再次执政。

8 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

9 republican   

n.拥护共和政体的人； adj.共和政体的，（Republican）共和党人，（Republican）共和党的

参考例句：

• Some families have been republican for generations.有些家庭世代都支持共和党。
• A third candidate has entered the contest for the Republican nomination.第三个候选人已经加入角逐共和党提名的行列。

10 candidate   

n.候选人；候补者；投考者，申请求职者

参考例句：

• Voters like a candidate who has the common touch. 投票者喜欢那些平易近人的候选人。
• The local newspapers dressed up the candidate as a boxer.当地报纸把那个候选人描绘成一个拳击手。

11 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

12 legislation   

n.立法，法律的制定；法规，法律

参考例句：

• They began to draft legislation.他们开始起草法规。
• The liberals band together against the new legislation.自由党员联合一致反对新的立法。

13 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

14 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

15 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

16 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

17 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

18 campus   

n.大学校园，学校校园；大学　

参考例句：

• They spoke of the old days on the campus.他们谈起昔日的校园生活。
• The campus covers an area of twenty square kilometres.这个校园占地二十平方公里。

19 enclosed   

adj.被附上的；（用墙等）围住的；封闭的；与外界隔绝的v.（用墙、篱笆等）把…围起来( enclose的过去式和过去分词 )；把…装入信封；附入；（尤指墙、篱笆等 ）围住

参考例句：

• The yard had been enclosed with iron railings. 院子用铁栅栏围了起来。
• Do not use this substance in an enclosed space. 切勿在不透气的地方使用此物质。