Florida's New College: A Documentary Chronicles the Fight Against DeSantis's 'War on Woke'
In a gripping new documentary titled First They Came For My College, the tumultuous transformation of Florida's New College is brought to light. This small liberal arts institution, once a sanctuary for independent thought, became a battleground in 2023 when Governor Ron DeSantis launched his so-called war on woke. The film delves into how DeSantis decimated the school's trustee board, installing right-wing cronies to reshape it into a conservative model akin to Michigan's Hillsdale College.
The Takeover and Its Immediate Impact
Within less than a year, the campus underwent drastic changes. Library shelves were stripped of books by Black and Indigenous authors, and the gender studies department was shut down, with materials discarded in dumpsters. The arrival of fraternity boys transformed the environment, leading queer couples to fear holding hands due to homophobic slurs. In a particularly symbolic move, a community garden with a koi pond and barn owls was bulldozed to make way for a baseball stadium.
Former student Gaby Batista, a protest leader and ex-editor of the campus newspaper The Catalyst, describes the confusion: "As a student at a public university, you don't know your board of trustees. No one anticipates having to learn their names and have their business become so directly involved in your business."
Behind the Scenes of the Documentary
Documentary producer Harry W Hanbury, a New College alumnus, recalls his initial reaction: "I found out about the takeover and was immediately very worried. These Christian nationalists posed a real threat." Teaming up with director Patrick Bresnan, they visited the Sarasota campus, where Hanbury was overcome with emotion, stating, "I just started crying. New College was like where I was born. To see it taken over by these people who are conquistadors – the junta, as I like to call them – was really painful, but also galvanizing."
Bresnan and Hanbury focused on building trust with students, using their budget to take them out to dinner rather than on expensive equipment. This approach allowed students to play an active role, with five given camera phones to film protests, meetings, and personal moments, creating a collaborative and intimate narrative.
Student Resistance and Community Response
The documentary captures powerful scenes, such as DeSantis's surprise campus visit, where students chanted "Only Nazis ban books" and "Fascists fuck off." In response, DeSantis signed a bill banning diversity, equality, and inclusion programs in Florida public schools, declaring, "We are eliminating DEI. If you want to do things like gender ideology, go to Berkeley."
Batista reflects on this moment: "He was spitting in our faces. They were signing one of the worst bills we could possibly see on our campus, that would impact higher education very harshly." Despite the challenges, students found solace in community, reviving queer traditions with events like drag performances of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and parties featuring Beyoncé.
Broader Implications for Higher Education
The film raises critical questions about the purpose of universities. One student asks, "What are universities for? Are they businesses to extract wealth from people, or are they places where we not only expand consciousness but also gain skillsets to improve humanity?" Over the past three years, the attack on academic freedom has escalated, with the Trump administration cutting billions in funding to non-compliant institutions and pressuring them to avoid teaching "divisive concepts" like race.
A study by Scholars at Risk highlighted that the U.S. has become a "model for how to dismantle" academic freedom. In October, New College became the first to sign an agreement with Trump upholding strict gender definitions, reinforcing its role as a "canary in the coalmine" for broader political shifts.
A Cautionary Tale for the Future
Bresnan views the documentary as a stark warning: "This is fascism. At a certain point, the film became very serious in documenting our country's turn toward these fascist practices." He hopes that future generations will look back on it as they do on civil rights or Vietnam-era films, recognizing the mistakes made.
First They Came For My College premiered at the True/False documentary festival and screens at South By Southwest, serving as a poignant reminder of the ongoing struggle for academic freedom in America.
