New College's leaders are arrogant and incompetent. Punishing students won't change that.

It is appalling, unprecedented and dangerous that New College of Florida President Richard Corcoran is threatening to withhold degrees to students after they’ve already graduated. This cruel and unusual threat seems to be Corcoran’s response to being embarrassed when a prominent New College donor gave a commencement speech that wasn’t well received by students – or even capable of being heard by the audience due to the college’s own massive audio problems at the event.

The Herald-Tribune reported that some New College students booed the speaker, billionaire TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts, during “a technical difficulty-filled speech cut off early" by Corcoran. While this description is accurate, understanding how this came to be requires context.

The school’s administration put itself in this position through a combination of hubris and incompetence.

Corcoran and the New College of Florida Board of Trustees have spent the past 16 months bullying students, faculty and alumni. Using the term "bullying" might seem hyperbolic until you consider the administration's numerous actions and statements that have created – and continue to intensify – a divisive environment. Individually, these injustices don’t seem so bad, but collectively they add up to an atmosphere of contempt.

https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/opinion/columns/guest/2024/06/01/new-colleges-inept-leaders-are-using-students-as-scapegoats-graduation-ricketts-corcoran/73868559007/

The New College administration's unstated goal is to make their graduates more ignorant than they were when they first enrolled.