Posted on 09/05/2023 4:57:56 AM PDT by MtnClimber
The left-wing news network releases a deeply misleading documentary about the reforms at New College of Florida.
Earlier this week, MSNBC released a documentary about the reforms at New College of Florida titled The War on Woke. The film would more accurately be described as part of MSNBC’s ongoing war on truth. As a trustee of New College, I feel obligated to respond to three accusations in the film that are false and misleading.
First, MSNBC host Alex Wagner claims that New College has recruited a disproportionate number of student athletes, enticed them with generous scholarship offers, and, despite an all-out effort to build a new baseball team, “doesn’t have a baseball field for them to play on.” The intention of these claims is to discredit New College; it is also driven by the same spirit of resentment against men, athletes, and conservatives captured in a recent New York Times headline about the changes: “At College Targeted by DeSantis, Gender Studies Is Out, Jocks Are In.”
None of these charges holds merit. The proportion of student athletes at New College is in line with other liberal arts colleges. It is standard practice for athletic programs to use scholarships to recruit potential students. And the baseball field accusation is simply false: according to New College baseball coach Mariano Jimenez, the college has struck an agreement to use the fields at IMG Academy, a Division I-level athletic facility near the New College campus—a fact that Jimenez directly communicated to the MSNBC producers, who ignored it to advance their narrative.
Second, MSNBC would like viewers to believe that academic life at New College is in chaos. Amy Reid, the gender studies professor whose program is being terminated, complained that “it’s going to be hard for the college to continue without the dedication and expertise and investment of time and energy of our tenured faculty members.” New College parent Tracy Ferro claimed that the school had no academic advisor for marine biology and “not one class for marine bio that was being offered” for her daughter.
These accusations also don’t square with the facts. Reid wants viewers to believe that New College was previously an academic utopia, but during her 28 years as a faculty member, the college’s standings plummeted across all metrics, leaving it as the lowest-performing public university in Florida. Yes, nearly 40 faculty members have departed, but this is a positive development: administrators can now recruit new faculty better suited to restoring the school’s classical liberal arts mission.
Meantime, Ferro, who has earned a reputation around campus for shouting at trustees during board meetings, is peddling an outright falsehood. According to academic administrators, the school has three academic advisors in marine biology and offered multiple courses in the subject this semester, including “Marine Mammal Biology,” “Fish Biology,” and “Introduction to Oceanography.” Ferro seems to have a vendetta: she claims to have slept in a hotel room near campus for months, researching the new trustees, including me, and promising to undermine us—so far, without success. As one can see in the documentary, New College police officers have had to remove her for disruption of a board meeting. Yet, MSNBC portrays her as a hero, rather than a gadfly.
Another Ron DeSantis accomplishment for Florida.
Everyone needs to read his book:
Using school athletic recruitment as a political weapon is a fallacy. Inviting people to compete in athletics and “greasing the chute” to get them there is a practice that has been around for a couple of generations at least.
An example is in the movie “Rudy.” The Rudy character was told about his aspirations of coming down the tunnel to play as being out of the question because the NCAA allows the college to give 90 student athletes scholarships yet they can only dress 60 for game days. So this practice has not been considered unusual. Why pick it apart when the athletes are given jobs for pay that were created just to give them money? Or maybe the use of transportation and special housing on campus. Other people take their classes for them so they can work out or do other things related to the athletic department. More political tools? (Only by the left.)
wy69
No one believes MSNBC
False and misleading is the MSM rallying call. That sums up what they are. What’s worse is the MSM listeners buy everything they are told.
Well gee, maybe he could actually do something to stop insurance from going up 60% this year and 50% more next. All he would have to do is change the laws so his donor lawyer friends have a few reasonable limits on their baseless law suits. But no, he’s a lawyer himself and approves of it.
MSNBCLSD hallucinating again I see.
Typical
Predictable
Boring
No surprise here. Tagline says it with every post.
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