A newly appointed board of conservative trustees at the New College of Florida used their power to deny the tenure sought by five professors at the University.
This prompted one longtime tenured trustee to resign from their job. This seems to have stunned liberal activists and others in the academic world.
Six conservative trustees were appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) earlier this year, according to the Washington Examiner. They said they would move to ensure that the tenured professors and others who have gotten comfortable in their cushy jobs in academia wouldnt necessarily have it so easy moving forward. They want the professors to truly earn what they are striving for when they accept a role in the first place.
The Washington Examiner states that the New College of Florida has been well-known as one of the friendliest toward gay and transgender students in Florida.
The board voted 6-4 to deny tenure to five professors at the behest of interim college President Richard Corcoran. He previously served as the speaker of the Florida House of Representatives. The board previously fired Corcorans predecessor within weeks of the new board members taking their seats.
Corcoran noted that the members were applying for tenure one year before they should otherwise be qualified to receive it. As such, Corcoran recommended that they decline the application for tenure. It was his official recommendation that they decline the tenure request by the teachers, and that is precisely what the board voted to do.
Youve got a brand new president, a brand new provost. You have literally a change in direction, said Corcoran, and Lets just defer it one year.
The boards action caused Matthew Lepinski to resign from his post as a trustee. He is a longtime member and a holdover from years gone by. He was upset by the board's direction with these teacher tenure votes.
He said the following before walking out of the meeting: Im very concerned about the direction that this board is going and the destabilization of the academic program, and so I wish you the best of luck, but this is my last board meeting, Im leaving the college,
A conservative board trustee, Christopher Rufo, tweeted that he looked forward to replacing Lepinski on the board with someone else.
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