After Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced sweeping reforms to the New College of Florida, many people were excited that it could become the Hillsdale College of the South.
Some people, including faculty and university administrators, are less enthusiastic about the idea.
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Pushback against the reforms led one New College of Florida professor to resign on Saturday.
Aaron Hillegass, the Director of Data Science at the New College of Florida, resigned this week after saying that he did not want the college to become more like Hillsdale, a private liberal arts college in Michigan that has conservative leanings.
“Hillsdale College is bad for America. It cultivates prejudice against immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community, minorities, and non-Christians. It pushes a nativist and nationalistic agenda that would isolate the US from other nations.” He said.
I was hired at New College of Florida (my alma mater) immediately before Governor Desantis replaced the trustees and president in an effort to make it "The Hillsdale of the South". I just gave notice. pic.twitter.com/8mMZoK8uoA
— Aaron Hillegass (@AaronHillegass) April 8, 2023
He said restoring ideological balance to the university and making it less woke was analogous to ‘fascism.’
“When a Governor guts the leadership of a state school in an effort to make a facsimile of Hillsdale, that is fascism. Not the shocking Kristallnacht-style fascism, but the banal fascism that always precedes it.”
He decried DeSantis’ efforts to replace the Board of Trustees, which now includes prominent conservatives such as Christopher Rufo, a prominent anti-CRT activist and academic.
“I was hired at New College of Florida (my alma mater) immediately before Governor Desantis replaced the trustees and president in an effort to make it ‘The Hillsdale of the South’ I just gave notice,” Hillegass said in a letter to New College of Florida Interim President Richard Corcoran.
However, the most controversial line is when he said that he would ‘burn the college’ to the ground if he was more ‘patriotic.’
“If I were more patriotic, I would burn the college’s buildings to the ground. However, the soft spot in my heart for the students and faculty who remain prevents this,” Hillegass said.
Rufo and others blasted Hillegass for making the inflammatory statement on Twitter.
This professor is proving the point about ideological capture: he thinks it's perfectly reasonable to compare DeSantis to the Nazis and talk tough about "burn[ing] the college's buildings to the ground."
Thank you for your resignation. Don't let the door hit you on the way out. https://t.co/wlwnJzorQ9
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) April 10, 2023
“This professor is proving the point about ideological capture: he thinks it’s perfectly reasonable to compare DeSantis to the Nazis and talk tough about “burn[ing] the college’s buildings to the ground,” Rufo said.
Hillegass later attempted to backtrack and qualify his statement about ‘burning’ the New College of Florida ‘to the ground,’ calling it ‘poetic flourish.’
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“For the record: I would never burn a building down. Nor should anyone else. That was a poetic flourish that sounded cool until it showed up in the Sarasota Herald Tribune.” He said.
For the record: I would never burn a building down. Nor should anyone else. That was a poetic flourish that sounded cool until it showed up in the Sarasota Herald Tribune.
— Aaron Hillegass (@AaronHillegass) April 8, 2023
However, Rufo and others were unconvinced and continued to hold his feet to the fire on social media.
Rufo called his retraction ‘desperate’ and said that his ‘violent, partisan rhetoric’ has no place in the public university system.
New College professor desperately walking it back after suggesting that if he were "more patriotic," he would "burn the college's buildings to the ground."
This kind of violent, partisan rhetoric has no place in the public university system. https://t.co/jY24YBg34y
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) April 10, 2023
Another person pointed out that it was clear that Hillegass was not used to being ‘held responsible’ for violent or extremist rhetoric.
Woke neo Marxist professor isn't used to having to be responsible for his revolutionary rhetoric.
This is delicious.
— $8 Bartemy (@BartemyS) April 10, 2023
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