Alt New College Launches with Support from Bard College, Open Society University Network, and PEN America

After New College of Florida was targeted by Governor Ron DeSantis, who replaced the College’s president and the majority of its board, the fabric of the school’s education and ethos rapidly changed. New College lost approximately one-third of its faculty and eliminated courses in gender studies and other subjects. Now, with institutional support from Bard College, the Open Society University Network, and PEN America, Alt New College has launched to support faculty and students of the Florida-based school, providing online courses for students who are weighing their future at New College and beyond, and a platform for professors to continue to freely teach subjects of their choosing. Covered widely in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Fast Company, and Inside Higher Education, Alt New College held its first event on Monday, September 18, with Judith Butler and Masha Gessen in conversation on authoritarianism and the assault on gender studies and its second event on Tuesday, September 19, with David Hogg, Maisie Brown, Brianna Cea, and Evan Malbrough discussing youth voting and political power.

“Bard has been a proselytizer of rigorous liberal arts and sciences education in places where it's underdeveloped, inaccessible, or absent,” said Jonathan Becker, executive vice president and vice president for academic affairs at Bard, director of Bard’s Center for Civic Engagement, and vice chancellor of the Open Society University Network, told Fast Company. “We’re committed to young people’s education and academic freedom, which are all under threat,” Becker said. “They want to know they’re not alone, and we’re telling them they’re not alone.”

Read More in the Chronicle of Higher Education
Read More in Fast Company
Read More in Inside Higher Education

Post Date: 09-18-2023