Opponents, calling the move ‘erasure of a community institution’, rallied on the campus Wednesday.
By Ed James III
Original Air Date: February 25, 2026
Host: For nearly 50 years, the University of South Florida’s Sarasota-Manatee campus has been a fixture for local students pursuing careers in nursing, business, and hospitality. But now, that future is being debated three hundred miles away in Tallahassee. A high-stakes proposal to transfer the 32-acre campus to its neighbor, New College of Florida, has moved from rumor to a formal legislative battle. WSLR’s Ed James III has been following the story.
USF’s Sarasota-Manatee campus
EJ: Right now, we are looking at a tale of two budgets. In the Florida House, a plan known as HB 5601 would see New College take control of USF Sarasota-Manatee’s land, buildings and its brand-new 53-million-dollar residence hall by October of 2026. In exchange, New College would assume USF’s debt. While the House is moving forward, the Senate has yet to include this transfer in its version of the budget.
Opponents of the move aren’t waiting for the final gavel. They’re calling it an erasure of a community institution, and they are hosting a community forum on the embattled campus today to get their point across. Laurey Stryker, who presided over the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus during its biggest expansion, says the move ignores the specialized programs taxpayers have already funded.
Laurey Stryker
Laurey Stryker: Well, I think there’s never been a discussion of it. There’s not been a USF Board of Trustees meeting on it, a Board of Governors meeting on it—there’s never been any public discussion of why this would be a good idea for our community. One of the rationales of this community forum is to have our own way of providing that input, which we will.
EJ: While USF leadership initially remained quiet—or even tacitly supported the New College takeover—the university’s Board Chair, Will Weatherford, recently signaled opposition to losing the campus, stating there is a “zero percent chance” the university would support losing its operating funds.
Stryker’s concern is echoed by a coalition of community leaders who worry about the transparency of the deal. On a recent trip by the USF Sarasota-Manatee boosters to Tallahassee, lobbying legislators and even holding a small protest on the steps of the State Capitol, they were joined by members of the Uplands neighborhood, which is sandwiched by the two campuses, and by defenders of the art museum. Nancy Parrish is president of Citizens to Protect The Ringling, an organization that fended off an attempt by New College last year to take over the neighboring art museum. She describes the USF takeover proposal as a sudden move that lacks community input.
Nancy Parrish
Nancy Parrish: It doesn’t affect the Ringling Museum specifically. What it affects is our 100-acre arts and education corridor, which consists of three different educational institutions as well as this art icon, the Ringling Museum itself. We fought last year and succeeded in preventing New College from taking over the Ringling Museum. They had no qualifications to do so. Fortunately, our community continued to have Florida State University here in partnership with the Ringling to bring the excellent performances that the Ringling Museum has been doing for many decades. The issue that we see in terms of our community of citizens to protect the Ringling is that we care about that entire corridor, those 100 acres that are such a gift to this community.
EJ: Supporters of the merger see things differently. House subcommittee chair Demi Busatta and other proponents argue that the “proximity is policy,” suggesting that since New College is headquartered in Sarasota, it is the natural choice to manage the local campus. New College of Florida Communications Director, Jamie Miller, believes that this issue simply boils down to following the decisions of our local legislators.
Close to 300 people, according to organizers, came to a ‘Stop the Shutdown’ rally Wednesday to listen to a wide range of speakers. Photos: Save USF
Jamie Miller: We understand that public policymakers are responsible for public assets and debt, and we will listen to and be guided by whatever the public policymakers decide to decide in Tallahassee.
EJ: The final decision now rests with the Florida Senate, which has yet to include funding for the New College takeover in its budget proposal. Stryker hopes the Senate will listen to the public outcry and reject the proposal.
LS: Well, the [House] bill … would trigger the transfer of the $23 million that has been used to support our educational offerings down here. That passed last week. And [Reps.] James Buchanan and Will Robinson voted against it.
[Fiona] McFarland voted for it. So that’s what we know. Now, we have been following up with McFarland’s office – ‘What’s your rationale?’
And so we’re in conversation there. So we hope that we can turn that around, but essentially it’s through the House. So now the Senate has none of the language, neither the transfer nor the budget transfer.
So, we’re hopeful that the Senate will stay the course to say, this is not for our community. It has had no community input. The impacts are severe, and this is not something we need to do.
But first, there is some local action. Today at 4:30 p.m, the debate returns home as opponents gather for a protest rally at the USF-SM Student Center. Stryker is hoping today’s event will be both informative and a call to action.
LS: I think one is just sharing what is the proposal. Frankly, Ed, when I tell people or when any of our group have told people, “We’re talking about shutting down USF July 1,” they’re just astonished. They think this couldn’t possibly be being considered, and yet it is. One is to share that, and two is a call to action—and, of course, the action is legislative.
EJ: Reporting for WSLR, I’m Ed James III.
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