Comedian John Oliver roasts Florida’s conservative takeover of New College
Host of “Last Week Tonight” John Oliver slammed the conservative takeover of New College of Florida as “pathetic” in a segment of the HBO show Sunday.
The segment on the weekly news satire show threw New College into national spotlight once again, as Oliver criticized Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida’s Republican leadership for a dramatic transformation that has moved the college away from its liberal arts roots.
It also comes as state leaders look to take their experiment at New College further. Lawmakers recently approved a controversial deal that will allow New College to absorb part of another state institution — University of South Florida’s Sarasota-Manatee campus. The transfer — pending final approval by DeSantis — is the most recent example of the governor’s efforts to reshape Florida’s education system.
“It is possible to create a college that instills conservative values,” Oliver said. “But this, this is pathetic. And, depressingly, it is the exact sort of smash-and-grab we’re seeing in so many places right now from public health, to newspapers to broadcast news.”
Florida’s New College takeover criticized on ‘Last Week Tonight’
Oliver touched on New College’s past, paying homage to the college’s former “Null Set” mascot, barefoot culture and classes curated by students.
“Over time, even as it became part of Florida’s publicly-funded higher-ed system, it gained a reputation for being LGBTQ-friendly with an exceptionally personalized approach to education,” Oliver said.
But much of Oliver’s segment focused on New College’s controversies since the takeover — like administrators throwing out gender studies books, a former communications director’s arrest for indecent exposure and a report showing the college has the highest cost per degree of any state university in Florida.
John Oliver blasts New College leadership
Oliver also spoke about DeSantis appointing conservative officials to New College’s board, and naming Richard Corcoran as the college’s president.
In mocking a photo of Corcoran with a large gavel, Oliver said Corcoran took some “big, dumb swings” in trying to change New College from the start. The example showed a news clip of Corcoran talking about plans for a “cancel ‘cancel culture’” center.
“In researching this piece, we talked to so many students, and one big takeaway was that, while they’re grateful that some of the old faculty have tried to stick around and help them, the school’s administration seems to care much more about political posturing than it does about their actual lives,” Oliver said.
Another topic of Oliver’s segment was New College’s recent emphasis on sports, notably the school’s baseball team. The new spotlight on sports included a mascot change from the empty brackets to the “Mighty Banyans.”
Oliver pointed out New College’s recent recruitment of 70 baseball players, which was more than University of Florida had on its roster at the time, according to Oliver.
“It gets even more ridiculous when you learn that they recruited, again, 70 baseball players, to a school that, at that point, had no intercollegiate athletics program and didn’t even have a baseball field,” Oliver said.
The full segment on New College can be viewed on YouTube and HBO, where “Last Week Tonight” airs on Sundays.
