After learning the news over Memorial Day weekend that lawmakers reached an agreement to give the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus to New College of Florida, Laura Guasca, a senior in marketing at USF, expected to hear more from the university on Tuesday.
“I thought that maybe we would receive a newsletter, maybe, or some information about it. I keep reading, and I keep trying to find out as much as I can, but they have not said anything to us,” Guasca said.
She said that for the more than 1,600 students currently at USF-SM, emotions range from frustration to confusion, to worry and general anxiety about the future. Will they still be able to take classes on campus? And how, if it all belongs to New College as of July 1?
"Nobody was actually clear with us. Nobody was transparent from the university," said Guasca, who expects to graduate in December. She lives in Venice, more than a 90-minute drive from Tampa.
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The deal was made late Sunday, according to Florida Politics, and caps off a more than yearlong effort to enable the expansion of New College as a purveyor of conservative, classical education. The project’s top champion is Gov. Ron DeSantis, who installed a slate of new trustees to the small liberal arts college in 2023.
The state budget, which is expected to be approved and signed by the governor later this week, gives USF’s 32-acres of land, buildings, equipment and furnishings, including a STEM facility under construction and new dorms, to New College.
In turn, New College, which is already about $17 million in long-term debt and was singled out by a Florida DOGE report as the least efficient in the state university system, also must take responsibility for $53 million in dorm debt from USF by December 31, 2026.
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“This community has fought back. Thousands of emails and calls flooded legislative offices. Employers, students, families, and community leaders made clear how vital this campus is to the region,” Laurey Stryker, the former campus president of USF-SM, wrote in a letter to the supporters on Tuesday.
“None of it mattered. Behind closed doors, USF-SM students became collateral damage in an effort to advance New College of Florida’s ambition to become a national showcase for conservative classical education,” she said.
Stryker pointed out that students admitted before July 1, 2026, will retain access to classroom space now controlled by New College, but “more than 150 faculty and staff face reassignment and uncertainty for themselves and their families.”
Others affected include transfer students from State College of Florida, local high school graduates, and working adults planning on attending USF Sarasota-Manatee in the years to come.
Supporters of the deal, including New College president Richard Corcoran, posted statements on X, thanking the governor and legislature.
“The potential transition represents a thoughtful and forward-looking opportunity to expand New College’s capacity while preserving continuity for the Sarasota-Manatee community, its students, faculty, and staff,” Corcoran wrote.
“New College is prepared to steward this transition with care and intentionality as we continue building a nationally distinctive public liberal arts institution focused on academic excellence, civic discourse, innovation, and student opportunity," Corcoran continued.
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USF Board of Trustees member Will Weatherford, who approved the first draft of legislation on the issue in early 2025 and okayed sending it to New College, as a public records request showed, did not respond to WUSF’s request for comment.
Weatherford posted on X that "this is in the best interests of USF, New College and our state," and said he is “confident" the university "will be able to protect" its students, faculty and staff.
USF President Moez Limayem has admitted to "losing sleep" over the issue and pledged transparency when he took the helm in February.
But in Guasca’s view, the signs are not good. She is taking three online classes this summer, and has three scheduled in the fall: one online, one at the USF St. Petersburg campus, and one at Sarasota-Manatee.
"To be honest, when I was doing my registration, there were already like very few classes for Sarasota, which was a little bit strange," she said.
Guasca also said that while the end of her education is in sight, she worries about the freshmen, sophomores and juniors, who have more studies to do.
The Sarasota-Manatee campus is “where I met some of my closest friends, and where I met other students that, just like me, were doing a job while they were studying,” she added.
“It’s more than just a campus. I really built a lot of connections and memories there," she continued.
USF spokespeople did not immediately respond to WUSF’s request for comment on Tuesday.
WUSF has studios at USF Sarasota-Manatee, but is editorially independent, and its news stories are not reviewed by university leaders prior to air.
