At the request of the state’s Republican governor, Sarasota’s pubic public liberal arts college, New College of Florida, has experienced significant changes.
After undergoing a change, a Florida college under the Republican governor of the state sent hundreds of library books, many of which featured LGBTQ+ themes, to the landfill.
The most recent development in the conservative change campaign has led Sarasota, Florida’s New College of Florida, a small liberal arts college, to national scrutiny. Governor Ron Desantis, a prominent member of the Republican Party and former presidential candidate, vowed to turn the campus into the “first public university to push back on gender indoctrination.”
Republican efforts to reshape higher education in the party’s image nationwide have been affected by the school’s transformation, which forced students and staff members to flee to other schools.
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On Tuesday afternoon, the Gender and Diversity Centre’s books and collections spilled out of a dumpster in the school’s Jane Bancroft Cook Library parking lot. Before the students were informed, a car was seen on camera taking the books. (New College students have been given the opportunity to purchase books leaving the library collection in the past.)
Some of the books that were thrown away include “The War of the Worlds,” “Nine and Counting: The Women of the Senate,” and “When I Knew,” which were collections of stories from the LGTQ+ community recounting when they realized they were gay.
Nathan March, a spokesperson for New College, stated that the story was false after Gannett’s report was published. The college was carrying out two different procedures: routine maintenance of the campus library and clearing materials from the GDC because the gender studies program was discontinued.
March stated that “a library needs to regularly review and renew its collection to ensure its materials are meeting the current needs of students and faculty.” The images seen online of a dumpster full of library materials are related to the standard weeding process.”
March stated that each book should not be sold or donated due to Florida statute 237. However, Florida laws stated that New College may dispose of state-funded property by “selling or transferring the property to any other governmental entity … private nonprofit agency … (and) through a sale open to the public.”
He added that the books in the GDC library were relocated to the donation box behind the library because no one claimed them from its previous location in the Hamilton Center. The donation box is located a distance from the dumpster loaded with books. Most students were not on campus because New College’s move-in day isn’t until August 23.
Many students also said they were never informed that GDC books could be claimed.
According to Amy Reid, the chair of the faculty and trustee’s representative, when colleges discard books, they throw democracy.
She said: “Books are what matter.”
Fourth-year New College student Natalia Benavites, 21, stated that books in the college dumpster had a “discard” label on the spine and the college seal. Upon inquiring with administrators, she was informed that the college is prohibited by state statute from donating books acquired with state funds.
The college also threw out books from the Gender and Diversity Center, which was situated across campus. According to Benavites, the GDC books were bought on an individual basis rather than using state funds.
