New College loses at least $10 million in donations after DeSantis' takeover, alum says
A former New College of Florida Board of Trustees member who has spoken to a number of major donors about their giving plans since Gov. Ron DeSantis began transforming the school says 11 told her they are canceling more than $10 million in planned contributions, a huge financial blow to the small Sarasota school.
Charlie Lenger served on the New College board until Jan. 6, when DeSantis replaced her in a dramatic move that saw six conservative board members appointed with a mandate to transform the college.
A Sarasota resident who founded a plant leasing company in 1981 that grew out of her senior thesis at New College and now has 45 employees, Lenger also served on the New College Foundation board for 35 years, helping to bring in donors, and has been a longtime donor herself.
After DeSantis’ takeover, donors started contacting Lenger to get more information about what was happening. A number shared their intentions to remove New College from their estate plans and stop other contributions.
Lenger began keeping a list of canceled contributions. Of those who were willing to share the amount, she tallied more than $10 million from 11 donors.
https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/politics/2023/03/10/florida-governor-ron-desantis-new-college-takeover-drying-up-alumni-donations/69984607007/
I believe DeSantis' goal is not to transform New College into the "Hillsdale of the South", but to shut it down permanently -- because he does not want its "woke" legacy to survive.
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