Conservatives Took Over a Progressive College. What Happened Next?

June 11, 2026 - 02:41

SARASOTA, Florida -- Jones Hogsed knew all about the political firestorm at New College of Florida when he was trying to decide whether to enroll two years ago. The public liberal-arts school had a long reputation for being far left, with an intellectual culture centered around identity politics. It also had just been upended by Republican governor Ron DeSantis, whose supporters wanted to shape it into the "Hillsdale of the South," a nod to the proudly conservative college in Michigan.

Hogsed worried about both extremes, including what he described as the false premise that "serious academia is primarily a 'conservative' effort." He came to New College anyway and just finished his sophomore year. What he found turned out to be very different.

"It's really not a battlefield of political views," said Hogsed, who is from Orlando and studies literature and philosophy. He sees "divides in a few different ways," but "none of them are political."

This college of fewer than 1,000 students has been the subject of countless op-eds and think pieces since DeSantis packed the board overseeing New College with conservative allies in 2023. Depending on your point of view, it is either a blueprint for how to save American higher education from progressive ideological capture or a foretaste of where the Trump administration's crackdown on academia will lead.

Students and faculty describe a campus that has changed in visible ways. The old diversity office is gone. The gender studies program has been restructured. New hires lean toward classical liberal arts and free-market economics. But the daily reality for most students looks less like a culture war and more like a small college trying to find its footing. Enrollment has dipped slightly, and some veteran professors have left. Others have stayed, quietly teaching the same courses they always taught.

The biggest shift may be in the school's public image. New College is no longer just a quirky haven for bright, unconventional students. It is now a political symbol, watched closely by both sides. For the students living through it, the experience is more mundane. They still attend seminars, write long papers, and argue with each other over ideas. The difference is that now, the whole country is watching.