Opinion: I chose New College because I didn’t have to leave my identity at the campus door

Editor’s Note: Sophia Brown is a senior at New College of Florida and editor of the school newspaper, The Catalyst. The views expressed here are her own. Read more opinion at CNN.

CNN
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The freedoms of students in Florida have long been under fire during Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration, with his book banning, attacks on critical race theory and the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

But I still wasn’t entirely prepared for his attacks on academic freedom at New College of Florida, the liberal arts college in Sarasota, where I’ve been a student for the past four years.

As bad as things got in Florida, I and many of my classmates thought that surely his culture war policies wouldn’t reach our school, which has been something of a bubble of sanity and safety for queer students like me, as well as my transgender and BIPOC classmates. With any luck, DeSantis’ ginned-up culture wars will scuttle his presidential aspirations.

The governor is continuing to plow ahead with his takeover of New College. He has installed a new board of trustees and a new interim president. Last month, the board voted to abolish New College’s Office of Outreach and Inclusive Excellence. Our Dean of Diversity was fired a few days later. And just last week, it was announced that our provost has been replaced, as DeSantis continues to force his conservative values on a place where they’re not wanted.

Many students who have come to think of New College as a sanctuary, now feel as though they are no longer welcome here. Students feel as if they’re walking on eggshells – in part because the new conservative leadership has been incredibly vague about the next changes they will try to ram through.

Each time he has given a speech on campus, our interim president has spoken about the great things he wants to do for New College. But he also recently wrote in a letter to donors and alumni in which he said that the school is “dominated by a self-aggrandizing few who want to co-opt the education system to force their personal beliefs on other people’s children.”

This doesn’t augur well for its future as an academic and cultural oasis. Students are feeling burned out and afraid. Many of us are just trying to make it through what feels like it could be the…