Peter Schorsch
Richard Corcoran has seen a lot throughout his career in politics — rising from a staffer to state Representative to House Speaker to Education Commissioner and, now, to President of New College of Florida.
Corcoran uses his more than two decades of experience navigating Florida’s political process to support his latest endeavor, remaking the state’s tiniest university. He’s documenting that experience in a new book, “Storming the Ivory Tower: How a Florida College Became Ground Zero in the Struggle to Take Back Our Campuses.”
The book also pays homage to conservative priorities pushed under Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration, and defends what critics have decried as a hostile takeover of a beloved liberal arts institution.
It’s a relatively quick read, broken into digestible chapters often broken further down into easy-to-follow themes. And for those who like to skim, it’s good for that too, with much of the book’s points occasionally repeated because they support a variety of counterpunches against a common villain within the book: “the radical left.”
But for those who can’t find the time, or who are looking for a more detailed synopsis before diving in, here are 16 takeaways from the book.
Corcoran had to be convinced to take the Education Commissioner job
DeSantis announced in late 2018 that he was nominating Corcoran to be the state’s Education Commissioner. But before that, in talks with Corcoran about the job, Corcoran had to be sold. In fact, DeSantis had to ask him three times before Corcoran eventually decided it was worth looking into.
Ultimately it was the Gaetz family — former Senate President Don Gaetz, who was one of Corcoran’s legislative colleagues, and Gaetz’s son, Matt Gaetz — who helped seal the deal. With their encouragement, Corcoran writes in his book that he eventually realized DeSantis was not hounding him about the job to be a day-to-day manager, as had been the norm, but rather to be a disrupter to the education blueprint overall.
Much of the book highlights just how seriously Corcoran took that task, including a lengthy retelling of accomplishments reforming New College, but more on that later.
Corcoran doesn’t support abolishing the U.S. Department of Education
President-elect Donald Trump is expected to take steps to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, a priority laid out in the controversial Project 2025. During his campaign, Trump claimed he had no involvement in that document but has since taken steps and made comments suggesting it will be, at least in part, a blueprint for his administration.
Instead, Corcoran writes in his book that the agency could be used “to push back on the radical Left’s ideological stranglehold.”
“Federal agencies can be utilized to legally, ethically, and honorably bring about rapid change. In addition, imagine the result of eliminating the U.S. Department of Education,” Corcoran writes, noting that funds “would go straight to Gavin Newson, Kathy Hochul, and Gretchen Whitmer,” Democratic Governors whom GOP officials frequently target with criticism.
By contrast, Corcoran points to the Florida Department of Education, where “we brought about rapid change,” including opening schools quickly amid the COVID pandemic and stopping mandatory masking in schools, both through “the power of the purse.”
It was not a hostile takeover, nor an effort to create a conservative university
Throughout the book, Corcoran frequently reminds the reader that reforming New College of Florida was not a hostile takeover meant to reimagine the school as a Florida-based Hillsdale, the private Christian-based liberal arts college in Michigan for which New College is now frequently compared.
Instead, it was about “free speech and civil discourse.” DeSantis’ goal, Corcoran wrote, was “not to create a conservative institution but to signal a renaissance of freedom of speech and respect for others’ viewpoints in public higher education.”
New College, Corcoran wrote, is focusing on “academic excellence, free from radical liberal projects that are merely attempts to social engineer an entire generation.”
In fact, the ‘takeover’ happened because of data and ongoing criticism
“It was a campus where students had run the show, and few to no guardrails were placed on behavior,” Corcoran explained of campus life.
He pointed to student surveys showing some within the student body felt isolated and unable to express opinions that differed from what Corcoran describes as “groupthink.” And he writes that “simple data” prompted DeSantis to appoint a new Board majority at New College, including numbers showing “plummeting retention rates, enrollment numbers, and test scores.” Corcoran wrote that without intervention, “it was likely New College would have been shut down in short order by the Florida legislature.”
He defends “Don’t Say Gay” law, and calls it a misnomer
Corcoran defends the DeSantis-backed “Parental Rights in Education” law the Governor signed in 2022, which critics labeled “Don’t Say Gay.” It barred discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in grades K-3. The name it’s more commonly called, Corcoran said, was a “misnomer” perpetuated by the media.
“While most people know that moniker because of the press’s frequent use of it, what they do not know — because it was buried by the press — is that it was parents who led to its passage,” he wrote.
The book tells the story of two families that ultimately sued School Districts over interactions with their children for which they were not privy nor informed until after-the-fact. One involves January Littlejohn, whose daughter she says was “socially transitioned” at their Leon County school without her consent or knowledge by meeting with the child and discussing their pronoun preferences, preferred bathroom and other details related to gender identity.
The book also spotlights Wendell and Maria Perez in Fleming Island. Their daughter was experiencing “identity” issues and attempted to hang herself at her elementary school. The family sued over violations of parental rights after learning the school had been counseling their daughter about her gender identity without their knowledge.
He doesn’t oppose gender studies as a part of other disciplines, but rejects it as a stand-alone course
One of the highest-profile moves since Corcoran took the helm at New College of Florida was eliminating the school’s gender studies curricula.
The move, Corcoran explains, was not about eliminating critical thinking or debate surrounding the topic of gender or sex, but to right-size it by framing the discussion within various other disciplines. Through various citations, Corcoran paints a picture of “new and radical definitions of ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ in higher education.”
Gender studies, the book argues, stifles freedom of speech, expression and intellectual debate regarding “gender” and “sex” and “whether they could be related to biology.” The book posits that New College’s move to eliminate gender studies curricula supports “gender-critical feminists” who “eschew transgender legal rights that they perceive as potentially threatening to the rights of cisgender women,” according to William & Mary’s Journal of Race, Gender, & Social Justice. Corcoran cited that journal, adding that the author “warns against such dissenting voices.”
The move also came as a sort of opposition to gender-affirming care for minors. The book cites the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) authorizing a review of its position, arguing the review’s commission was evidence that there was a “lack of scientific data relating” to such care. The book does not, however, include that the AAP, following its review, upheld its guidance supporting access to gender-affirming care for minors suffering gender dysphoria.
The book argues that gender studies actually stifles open dialogue necessary to further the study of gender-affirming care and other transgender issues and that “so-called ‘social justice’ reasoning can be argued to have prevailed over society’s interest in vigorous intellectual critiques.”
Tackling ‘DEI’
Corcoran dedicates a chapter of this book to DEI — diversity, equity and inclusion — and criticism of such policies, as well as the use of critical race theory (CRT), are sprinkled throughout the entire book.
Corcoran writes that DEI offices function “as mere carriers of an idea in radical opposition to the traditional understandings of equal opportunity,” and that DEI policies have created “cancel culture, shouting down speakers on college campuses, safe spaces.”
In his book, Cocoran posits that DEI supports the idea that any unequal outcomes between various races constitutes racism, weakening any merit-based system of education. The book also takes aim at microaggressions, trigger warnings, safe spaces and trauma, which he writes led to a breakdown in free speech.
Corcoran offers a different view of DEI. Rather than framing its demise as a move toward racism, bigotry and misogyny, Corcoran says abolishing DEI would end a system of creating “separate standards for people based on their identity categories.”
And Corcoran writes that DEI policies don’t work anyway, noting that even after the school hired its first official Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Black student enrollment continued to hover around 3%, and Hispanic student enrollment at about 18%. Further, the book notes that “the percentage of bachelor’s degrees awarded to Black and Hispanic students had declined since the DEI office began.”
Conservatives were the victim; New College is an example of them flipping the script
The book begins by portraying conservatives the victim, with a 2023 commencement address from Dr. Scott Atlas in which he was booed, bombarded with insults, and forced to pause his speech amid a chorus of opposition from graduating students.
Atlas is a conservative commentator and doctor who served in the Trump administration as a top COVID taskforce advisor. He faced harsh criticism at the time from those who claimed he was spreading misinformation about the virus, including that children had “virtually zero risk of dying.” He also largely rejected masking protocols to protect against the virus.
Atlas’ uncomfortable and poorly received commencement address is a frequent theme throughout the book, with Corcoran often criticizing detractors for being misinformed by a faulty mainstream media narrative about the school’s reforms.
Likewise, Corcoran frequently refers to the “radical Left,” arguing that the vast majority of academics have pushed a liberal narrative and stifled dissenting opinions.
Probably not a good read if you’re one of those radical leftists
The book includes claims of liberal indoctrination that will both enrage conservatives and delight them in the systematic dismantling of that perceived indoctrination. Likewise, it will anger liberals, frustrated with rollbacks to policies they view as progress, such as DEI initiatives and areas of study that further such efforts. Unlike conservatives, liberal readers, if there are any, are unlikely to find anything within these pages for which to rejoice.
Not just New College
Corcoran compares New College to higher education writ large, noting a large disparity between the presence of liberal faculty versus conservative. The book cites a 2018 study finding that 39% of liberal arts colleges throughout the U.S. “did not have a single faculty member on staff that identified as Republican.” The study also found that another more than 39% of those schools had “so few (Republicans) as to make no difference.”
Christopher Rufo, one of the most controversial new Board members, wrote the foreword
Rufo’s appointment to the New College board drew immediate criticism. He’s a staunch conservative who often criticizes DEI and CRT and opposes discussion of LGBTQ issues in schools.
In his foreword, Rufo touts the elimination of DEI policies and gender studies curricula from New College, writing that “Corcoran is actively engaged in this fight, leading the effort to reform Florida’s most left-wing public university, New College of Florida, and restore the classic liberal arts education that inspired its founding.”
Rufo is mentioned in the book, including that the controversial viewpoints on higher education he had taken leading up to, during and after the New College changes, were “not to make public institutions reflective of a conservative viewpoint but to set them free from ‘militant liberalism.’”
The Hamas/Israel conflict
Corcoran dedicates an entire chapter of the book to how protests on college campuses impacted higher education as a whole, and influenced decision-making at New College.
Corcoran credits a shift in attitudes toward the liberal bent on college campuses from “shoulder shrugging” to “a much broader coalition joining this call for a reboot of higher education” to “the reactions by administrators, students, and faculty on campuses to the Hamas attack on a peaceful music festival in Israel.”
Corcoran dives into what he describes as disappointing talking points from top tier college administrators defending anti-Israel protests on campuses. He explains that such talking points ignoring the terrorist attack by Hamas against Israel in favor of support for Palestine were a wake-up call, of sorts, for otherwise passive onlookers who now may recognize the need for more inclusive campuses.
He specifically mentions, at several points, the irony behind New College reform critics comparing the “takeover” to Nazism while simultaneously ignoring the Jewish people directly impacted by the Holocaust.
Blame the media
Corcoran blames just about any criticism against changes to New College on “legacy media.”
“It was mind-blowing the intense media attention on the board action at tiny New College, but hardly a mention in the press about the executive order,” he writes, referring to President Joe Biden signing an executive order expanding DEI initiatives in the federal workforce and New College’s vote to abolish its DEI programs.
Corcoran also devotes significant space in the book to defending his 2023 speaking appearance before Tampa Tiger Bay in which he fielded some tough questions from critics. That includes one detractor peppering Corcoran with questions about the campus no longer feeling welcoming to Black students, despite the fact that Corcoran had just laid out data showing that Black student enrollment had actually increased.
Rather than reporting that, Corcoran wrote, some reporters present focused solely on the claim, not Corcoran’s presentation of facts debunking it.
His reforms are working
Corcoran laid out a lengthy list of ways the changes at New College have worked, including that a total of 347 students had enrolled for the Fall semester in 2023, the largest incoming class of freshman in New College’s history.
Beyond enrollment, the book also credits a more efficient leadership team, and ideologically aligned board, for record school funding. It also tackles what’s described as mismanagement within the new College Foundation, which, before the new Board and Corcoran were installed, had raised barely $3 million per year, a far cry from the nearly $18 million Ringling College of Art raised in 2022. After new leadership was brought on, Corcoran said leaders brought on lobbyists to seek federal funding, something the Foundation had not been doing before.
The list of accolades also includes adding athletics to the school’s offerings. That, Corcoran wrote, “had been in the college’s strategic plan since 2016, but like many projects at New College, it languished from lack of leadership, mired in the tiny squabbles that seemed to take up much of the college’s time previously.”
After Corcoran’s hire, New College received approval to compete in the 2023-24 school year, and was fully approved for the 2024-25 year.
Other points noted in the book include nine acres of land donated by the Manatee County Commission that had been earmarked for the University of South Florida’s Sarasota/Manatee campus, a new master’s program in marine mammal science, and a new online program.
University Presidents shouldn’t be academics
“Universities are multibillion-dollar enterprises. It makes little sense to put someone at the helm whose main accomplishment is having climbed the ranks in academia,” Corcoran wrote. “Most have never run a business or organization. In addition, they often view other members of faculty as their brethren. Therefore, it can be difficult for them to push back against this group, even if it is in the best interests of the institution.”
A love letter to DeSantis
Corcoran includes a chapter called “Florida is Florida for a Reason.” It primarily offers praise for Florida’s Governor.
“In higher education, as with COVID and many other policy issues, Florida has become a national symbol of bold and transformative leadership. There is no question that DeSantis has led the state with foresight and courage,” he wrote.
The chapter also praised the Legislature for standing “strongly behind (DeSantis),” which “supercharged DeSantis’s efforts to enact visionary public policy.”
