For colleges and universities, a robust alumni network with a strong, positive relationship to the institution’s administration is a major boon. Usually, an alumni network grows organically. One school is about to take a very different approach.
The New College Foundation, a direct support network (DSO) and fundraiser for the controversial New College of Florida, is advancing a plan to restructure or even potentially dissolve its official alumni organization and rebuild it from scratch. An initial vote was taken on July 21 by the Foundation’s Governance Committee and the proposal will move forward to the Foundation proper on July 29.
New College spokesperson Jamie Miller told Florida Politics that this move is being considered in order to better curate an alumni network “in support of the College’s mission.” This sounds much like the refresh of the college’s student body to reflect a more conservative-leaning ideology that followed the infamous hostile takeover of 2023.
Notably, board members of the current New College Alumni Association (NCAA) claim that the specific terms of the Foundation’s proposal have not been disclosed to them.
“It was an open public meeting where what was being discussed was hidden in plain sight,” NCAA Chair Chris Van Dyk told a group of about 30 during a virtual NCAA Engagement Committee meeting on July 22. “I can see the binders on the table. We’ve not been given access to what was in them.”
The NCAA was founded in 1977, shortly after the school became part of the Florida university system and was designated as the state’s honors college. The alumni group entered into a merger agreement with the independent New College Foundation in 2002 to establish its operational independence from the college, starting an era in which the NCAA could financially support student-led research through initiatives such as the Student Research and Travel Grant (SRTG), a mainstay for the school’s all-honors curriculum which requires each student to conduct research for a senior thesis. The NCAA hosts semi-annual reunions in Sarasota and has traditionally represented a core demographic of the New College community within the Foundation.
The Foundation’s proposal would replace the NCAA with an organization called the Alumni Engagement Committee. New College Vice President of Enhancement David Rancourt told Florida Politics that the new group would “‘exclusively support and enhance’ the mission of New College as determined by the college’s Board of Trustees and be tasked with involving alumni, students and parents in ways ‘consistent with the College and Foundation’s direction.’”
The New College Foundation has come under frequent scrutiny since the takeover, particularly for allegedly failing to award scholarship money to students of color. Additionally, several major donors announced their withdrawal of donations from the college during the initial takeover period, totaling an estimated $29 million according to one report in USA Today. To what extent the New College alumni and donor community has continued to withdraw financial support from the college is unclear.
On July 22, NCAA board members unanimously voted to oppose the Foundation’s proposal. The restructuring of the current NCAA may displace upwards of $300,000 under the 2002 merger agreement, potentially creating grounds for legal action. However, Van Dyk and fellow board members agreed to secure the Alumni Association Executive Committee’s approval before moving forward.
Ben Brown is a former NCAA chair and a current board member of the Novo Collegian Alliance (NCA), an independent alumni group that formed after the 2023 takeover to provide support and special programs for New College students. Brown urged the NCAA to proceed with caution, but he also asked, “Why should the Alumni Association just be kicked out the door and just, ‘Oh, sorry, that $290,000 you came with when you joined with the Foundation…We’re just going to use it for whatever we want?’
“And of course, now it’s grown into a much larger amount. That’s really, whether the Association has the legal resources to actually have a court proceeding about that, I really think the Foundation should reflect on whether that’s a fair and decent way to treat people. . .There’s a huge violation of trust.”
Bill Rosenberg is another former NCAA chair and current president of the NCA. During the discussion he commented, “ I think from the alumni standpoint, there was a huge violation of trust in terms of the monies that they donated in good faith as to how they’re being used now, coupled with an incredible disregard for law.”
“One of the concerns that I have is that a great deal of institutional knowledge has left the college,” NCA board member Juliana Paré-Blagoev said at the virtual meeting. “The decision by the Foundation to put forward a motion will have the effect of reducing engagement with alums who are familiar with the traditional academic program of the college. That will further impair, in my view, the ability of the current administration to work effectively with the Foundation to advance the original academic mission.”
“What kind of college dissents or disallows or simply disses its alumni?” Van Dyk wondered aloud. “And what is it about their culture that they are instilling? . . . ‘If you oppose us, if you question us, if you challenge us, we don’t debate you. We shut you down.’”
Requests for public comment will remain open up to 24 hours before the New College Foundation Board of Directors meeting, which will be held on July 29 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. EST at the Sudakoff Conference Center, 5835 General Dougher Place, Sarasota, FL 34243.
