Budget conference: House backs $1.5 million for New College’s Freedom Institute

The House wants to give $1.5 million for New College of Florida’s Freedom Institute to fight against “cancel culture” in higher education.

The House and Senate, however, are divided about how much funding to give the liberal Sarasota school that Gov. Ron DeSantis took over by appointing new trustees who hired Richard Corcoran as President.

The Senate’s latest offer proposes $0 for the school’s Freedom Institute, which could jeopardize the school’s plan to hire more faculty and host events.

Meanwhile, the Senate proposes $10 million in recurring general fund revenue for the school to make “operational enhancements as determined by the President and Board of Trustees.”

“Of the funds provided, a minimum of $5 million shall be used to provide scholarships to students,” according to the proviso and Back of the Bill.

The House is against funding the $10 million. 

For the House’s $1.5 million for New College, that’s half what the school was initially asking for.

New College sought $3 million to hire four administrative personnel, five faculty members and equipment for live events.

The Freedom Institute at New College is needed to “address the growing polarization and decline of civil discourse in academia and society by promoting free speech, open inquiry, respectful dialogue, and an engaged citizenship,” according to Sen. Jim Boyd’s local funding request. “Across the country, private and public university faculty often feel compelled to submit to prevailing ideology, afraid to lose their jobs and reputations if they resist. Undergraduate students, too, have felt this chilling effect on open dialogue in the classroom and on campus, with bullying and ostracism often the result of failing to conform to the accepted orthodoxy.”

DeSantis has reshaped higher education in Florida, helping allies get key jobs, including Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. He was named interim leader at the University of West Florida late last month.