The New College Foundation Board voted Wednesday morning to dissolve the school’s nearly 50-year-old alumni association, approving a controversial restructuring over the objections of alumni leaders.
Critics and other community members argued the move would eliminate an independent alumni voice and further divide the college, which was transformed in recent years under Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The Foundation board approved the changes on all but one vote. The lone dissenter was the current chair of the alumni association, whose board seat is eliminated under the new bylaws. The decision replaces the New College Alumni Association with a new Foundation-appointed Alumni Engagement Committee.
Several alumni association members and other speakers urged the Foundation not to approve the proposal, arguing it would eliminate an independent alumni voice, weaken alumni representation and further erode the college’s relationship with graduates.
Among them was Jono Miller, former professor and former president of the New College Alumni association, who criticized the college’s relationship with alumni under its current leadership.
“This Foundation has not treated alumni very well,” Miller told the board. “Through all the previous variants of New College, the new regime has always embraced the alumni they inherited — but not you.”
He said the college had failed to maintain basic alumni engagement, noting there had been “no newsletter, no reunions” and that a reunion photo on the college’s website still included “a man who died in 2021.”
Miller also is the president of NCF Freedom, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting academic freedom and the future of New College.
In a letter submitted to the Foundation before Wednesday’s vote, the New College Alumni Association Board said it was “unequivocally” opposed to dissolving the organization, saying the move would sever the college’s primary channel of communication with alumni, further alienate donors and dismantle decades of alumni infrastructure. The board urged Foundation directors to reject what it called an “irreversible step.”
Foundation and college officials have defended the changes, saying they are intended to strengthen alumni engagement, expand participation and better align alumni activities with the college’s mission.
“This new committee is designed to create more meaningful ways for alumni to stay involved throughout every stage of life — whether through mentoring students, participating in intellectual programming, strengthening professional networks, supporting philanthropy, or helping shape the future of the college,” David Rancourt, the college’s vice president of advancement, said in a statement previously provided to Suncoast Searchlight.
The vote comes less than a week after Suncoast Searchlight first reported on the proposed restructuring.
Before Wednesday’s meeting, Alumni Association Chairman Chris Van Dyk said the association was considering legal action if the Foundation approved the amendments, arguing the Foundation failed to provide adequate public notice before advancing the proposal.
The New College Alumni Association has operated under an affiliation agreement with the Foundation since 2002, when the independent alumni organization merged into the Foundation after New College separated from the University of South Florida’s Sarasota-Manatee campus.
Alumni leaders have argued the agreement was intended to preserve an independent alumni voice while strengthening collaboration with the Foundation.
This story was produced by Suncoast Searchlight, a nonprofit newsroom of the Community News Collaborative serving Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties. Learn more at suncoastsearchlight.org.
