DeSantis-appointed board member vows to take on 'pledges of fealty' to wokeness

30 January 2023

A Ron DeSantis appointed board member at The New College of Florida warns that he will propose removing current employees and hiring new staff to align with “the school’s new financial and business model," the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports.

The upcoming meeting will be the first for Eddie Speir, who is behind the proposal, and six fellow conservative DeSantis-appointed board members.

In a blog post titled “My Intentions for the Jan 31st Board Meeting,” Speir mapped out his plans to revamp leadership and listed additional agenda items he plans to raise at the meeting. As the Herald-Tribune reports, one of Speir’s proposals includes an effort to “identify 'wokeness' as a 'set of beliefs' akin to religion."

Per the Herald-Tribune:

[Speir] then wants to identify aspects of wokeness that are "shared values" worth preserving, that are "dogmatic" and should be excluded from curriculum and that are "pledges of fealty" that should be actively fought against.

New College Professor Amy Reid told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune that she is calling on the board members not to move so “rashly” on the college’s leadership roster changes.

“We’ve heard a lot of saber rattling from individuals, but we still haven’t heard from the majority of the board,” she said. “I encourage the board to find out more about the institution, to really look before they leap when it comes to leadership changes.”

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