Jacob Ogles
New College of Florida President Patricia Okker was fired Tuesday by the school’s newly installed Board of Trustees.
“I understand that there is a new mandate for this college,” Okker said.
Before the meeting, a new contract was negotiated to allow for a sabbatical for Okker, and then for her to take a full-time teaching position at the school if she does not take a job elsewhere.
The parting of ways with the administrator comes after significant upheaval on the board. Gov. Ron DeSantis this month appointed six new members to the board and promised to remake the college more like Hillsdale College. The State University System’s Board of Governors appointed another member of the same background, the leader of a conservative think tank.
Okker was hired for the job in 2021. She previously served as dean of the College of Arts and Science at the University of Missouri.
At the trustee meeting, Okker slammed the new direction being pushed for the college as a “hostile takeover.”
“I’m going to say publicly. I do not believe that students are being indoctrinated at New College,” Okker said.
New trustee Matt Spalding proposed hiring former Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran as interim President but said he would not be available until March. In the interim, the school will have Dr. Bradley Thiessen fill in.
New trustee Chris Rufo later tweeted the change would re-establist important values in the institution.
“We are restoring public authority over the public universities,” he posted. “Governor DeSantis has provided us with a vision and a mandate for change. We will do everything in our power to make New College the best publicly-governed classical liberal arts institution in America.”
The board of trustees after firing Okker discussed hiring counsel for the college. The current attorney advising the board, David Smolker, is not serving the institution full-time. Trustees decided to begin negotiations with former Senate President Bill Galvano, a Bradenton attorney, about the job.
While the board parted ways with Okker as a President, her time at the school is not necessarily over.
A five-year contract Okker signed on April 28, 2021 promised her an annual salary of $305,000. The contract runs through June 2026. The contract also allows her to give notice of intent to resign without a breach in contract, but she must give 90 days notice.
New College’s general counsel David Smolker laid out the specifics of how money could be paid out in installments, noting if Okker found work at another college the obligation would end.
New terms for a contract negotiated ahead of the meeting noted her contract also allows for her in the event of termination to take on a full-time teaching position. She is guaranteed pay of at least $150,000.
The college had the power under the contract to terminate Okker without cause, but must give six months’ notice, and can only take such an action with a two-thirds vote by trustees. Ultimately, nine of the trustees voted in favor of firing Okker.
Okker by contract could also be fired with cause if trustees felt she has failed at her job. Reasons itemized in the contract include a deliberate violation of duties, moral misconduct that brings disrespect or ridicule on the institution, or if the board judges that she has violated any college rules or the state Constitution.
Mary Ruiz, a member of the Board of Trustees since before the recent appointments, chaired most of the meeting where Okker was terminated. She noted there had been comments in social media that Okker will be terminated. That seemed to reference in part a blog post by new trustee Eddie Speir.
Grace Keenan, the student trustee on the board, said she felt Okker should be kept on the board.
“I think you’re an incredible person to lead us through these changes. and I hope you stay,” she said.
She voted against firing Okker, and also raised concerns about hiring Corcoran before the entire board could meet with him.
But other board members, even some who praised Okker, said she likely was not the right person to lead the college with the new board.
“This is a different dynamic that we’re encountering,” Speir said. “I think it would be fair to her and to the new person that came to understand the full ramifications.”
The news about Okker followed word Corcoran was already planning to take over as interim New College President. His consulting firm, Continental Strategy, sent a letter to clients saying he would take over administration for the school.
At the trustee meeting, numerous speakers praised Okker, while none disparaged her besides those on the board.
“We fully support President Okker as the leader we need to realize the vision we share with trustees, a future of the colleges and innovative rigorous program which is a model of free speech expression and critical inquiry,” said Chris Kottke, a math instructor at the college.
The entire episode has caused uproar and outrage among the New College community. A packed crowd watched the trustee meeting unfold, with a number of faculty, students and members of the public speaking out in defense of Okker and against major changes to the university curriculum.
Trustees member, said he regretted informing the state he did not want to serve another term on the board. He said there were some changes the college could use, such as instituting grades in classes.
“Some kids and parents choose not to come here because of grades are not given,” he said.
But most defended the academic structure at New College, in particular the faculty-student contracts that measure progress for students.
“We fully support President Okker as the leader we need to realize the vision we share with trustees, a future of the college’s innovative rigorous program, which is a model of free speech expression and critical inquiry,” said Chris Kottke, a math professor at the college, on behalf of the United Faculty of Florida’s New College chapter.
There were some dissenting voices on issues. Garin Hoover, a former Board of
Some of the trustees thought the pushback from the public was itself an indication of a problem at the school.
“The campus needs a deep culture change,” said new trustee Matt Mauerlein, an Emory College professor. “You sat up here, you’ve called us racist, sexists, bigots, outsiders.”
But Sam Sharp, a transgender woman and part of New College Students for Academic Freedom, expressed concern that new trustees will bring a right-wing agenda hurtful to many students.
“We reject your attacks on LGBT students,” she said. “We statistically perform better academically when we are in informing environments that allow us to thrive as our best selves. This is what New College offers to us.”
16 comments
seldomseensmith
January 31, 2023 at 7:56 pm
Wow, turning the college into Hillsdale. Will that include the founder screwing his daughter in law and causing her suicide? I may have to get cable again.
https://floridapolitics.com/archives/585024-trustees-fire-patricia-okker-as-new-college-president/
cassandra
February 5, 2023 at 3:11 pm
Seedy Sex Scandal:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Roche_III
https://www.chronicle.com/article/a-scandal-and-a-suicide-leave-a-college-reeling/
TD
January 31, 2023 at 7:59 pm
This story garbles up what actually happened. It actually was NOT a termination without cause so you should revise the clickbaity headline.
The amendment, which is pages 137-138 of the board packet at
https://www.ncf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/January-31-Board-of-Trustee-Meeting-1.pdf
ELIMINATES the provisions of the ORIGINAL contract regarding WITHOUT CAUSE termination. The amendment does not use the words WITHOUT CAUSE at all.
Look at the video of the meeting first at 3:04:20, then 3:07:55, and then the vote at 3:26:00 onward. They adopted the amendment to her contract. The vote was to adopt the amendment. In the amendment she is simply terminated from the presidency and goes on sabbatical for one year before coming back as a professor of English potentially through 2026.
Further, to state the obvious, she WAS NOT fired without cause under the ORIGINAL contract which required six months notice and a two thirds vote. So that paragraph of the story needs to be cut as well.
The only trustee who continued to use the wrong terminology about “without cause” in the video was Eddie Speir, who revealed himself today to be an embarrassing unprepared ignoramus and ABSOLUTE IDIOT who should have never been appointed, does not know when to STFU or apparently how to read, and should never have crawled out of the ridiculous fake Christian backwater he came from. He is going to be a hindrance going forward and could well F this whole thing up if DeSantis’s people don’t woodshed him soon.
Deb Della Piana
February 2, 2023 at 8:35 pm
It’s clear what’s going on here. DeSantis is turning Florida into a right-wing gulag. Turning this college into another Hillsdale is a prime example. That is literally changing the structure of the entire university, and it is a blatant attempt to eliminate diversity, which is what he’s all about. It’s all about making Florida a homogenized, heterosexual white man’s paradise.
TD
January 31, 2023 at 8:02 pm
This story garbles up what actually happened. It actually was NOT a termination without cause so you should revise the clickbaity headline.
The amendment, which is pages 137-138 of the board packet [[posting without the link in case that’s an issue on this site]]
ELIMINATES the provisions of the ORIGINAL contract regarding WITHOUT CAUSE termination. The amendment does not use the words WITHOUT CAUSE at all.
Look at the video of the meeting first at 3:04:20, then 3:07:55, and then the vote at 3:26:00 onward. They adopted the amendment to her contract. The vote was to adopt the amendment. In the amendment she is simply terminated from the presidency and goes on sabbatical for one year before coming back as a professor of English potentially through 2026.
Further, to state the obvious, she WAS NOT fired without cause under the ORIGINAL contract which required six months notice and a two thirds vote. So that paragraph of the story needs to be cut as well.
The only trustee who continued to use the wrong terminology about “without cause” in the video was Eddie Speir, who revealed himself today to be an embarrassing unprepared ignoramus and ABSOLUTE IDIOT who should have never been appointed, does not know when to shut his mouth or apparently how to read, and should never have crawled out of the ridiculous fake Christian backwater he came from. He is going to be a hindrance going forward and could well F this whole thing up if DeSantis’s people don’t woodshed him soon.
Those three
February 1, 2023 at 2:08 am
Your whole triad is why Florida is only known for firing people without cause bad education and bad oranges lol
nail
February 1, 2023 at 1:18 am
.
Why did New College Trustees make the YouTube video recording from today’s board meeting private? What are they hiding?
Did DeSantis come in and hold the school hostage if students and did not bend their knees to him?
Mac Wiseman
February 1, 2023 at 6:35 am
Leftist heads are exploding. College being the left’s last shot at cementing their sexual peverse grooming and raciest indoctrination which began in pre K means leftists are high and mightly whizzed off over what is happening at New College. Love reading your “leftist talking points” keep the $hit show coming.
Whatever leftist +urds. “Elections Have Consiqunces”; Barak Hussain Obama.
John Wright
February 1, 2023 at 8:46 am
Oh, so many agree but without the $urd remark.
Mac Wiseman
February 1, 2023 at 9:13 am
Thanks my Brother. Be on guard of the leftist’s slippery slope of “words hurt”. Even though +urd, $urd, & $hit are powerful words for sure.
Clem White
February 4, 2023 at 2:47 pm
You said it, man. Ron DeSantios is the man! He’ll show those weirdos and communists what America is all about. All of us normal guys in Mr. Blanco’s 8th-grade gym class are behind you 100% (but not in a gay way).
Ocean Joe
February 1, 2023 at 9:22 am
Curious what put the bullseye on New College.
Was our governor unhappy with the faculty response to his mandated surveys about their beliefs or were they smart like Ricky (74) and Trump (400+) and refused to answer?
Guess all the talk about freedom and the free state ends when you disagree with Governor Wallace.
Pissed Off Parent
February 1, 2023 at 10:22 am
I invested in the Florida Pre-Paid College program for my now 10 year old son 6 years ago. This is a significant part of my monthly budget and now that DeSantis is systematically destroying Higher Education in Florida I’m wondering what type of legal recourse I have? Is there a class-action lawsuit I can join? What I signed up to pay for – the opportunity for my child to receive a world class education – will prove to be a horrible investment and will impact the tens of thousands of other Parents in a similar situation.
Doug Soderstrom, Ph.D.
February 1, 2023 at 7:24 pm
If what DeSantis is doing to Florida’s “educational program” is any indication of how this man would “run the country”” if he is eventually elected as the next President of the United States of America…….. Welcome to A FACIST DICTATOR AS BAD OR WORSE THAN what this nation would be if TRUMP was elected as President!
Dr. Don Gervich
February 4, 2023 at 7:27 am
I graduated from New College many years ago. Also I met Dr. Okker when she was running the Boston Marathon. Ron DeSantis is a sad, backward man who is taking out his frustrations on the students and teachers of America. What a tragedy. God help us.
Trevor Morris
February 4, 2023 at 2:24 pm
Wow! What a clown show the Governor has set off with his efforts to destroy the best college in Florida. At least he is upholding the long-sought goal of the Republican Party of Florida to destroy all public education in Florida. What a travesty. Florida must stop electing idiots who focus on dumbing us all down.
Comments are closed.