The campus shutdown comes despite months of public outcry.
By Noah Bookstein
Original Air Date: May 27, 2026
Host: The USF Sarasota-Manatee campus will be transferred to New College of Florida—marking the apparent conclusion of a fight that has roiled the Sarasota community. Noah Bookstein reports.
Noah Bookstein: USF Sarasota-Manatee is now slated to be shuttered, despite months of public outcry. Late Sunday night, the Florida Senate voted to approve the transfer as part of a state budget agreement. The investments USF made in Sarasota—including a residential hall—will be turned over to New College of Florida.
USF’s Sarasota-Manatee campus
New College was once a celebrated liberal arts institution but has plummeted in rankings and student retention since Governor Ron DeSantis targeted the school for conservative education reform in 2023. He stocked the administration with political allies, including in top positions. Since then, New College has pursued an aggressive expansion—at the expense of neighboring institutions.
Last year, New College attempted to absorb the Ringling Museum of Art from Florida State University. That effort was dropped after fierce community pushback. This year, the target was USF Sarasota-Manatee—and the outcome was different.
New College President Richard Corcoran celebrated the transfer in a statement on X, calling it “a thoughtful and forward-looking opportunity” and pledging to steward it “with care and intentionality.”
Despite Corcoran’s public commitment to continuity, the fate of the more than 2,000 enrolled students and over 150 faculty and staff remains unclear.
When asked what assurances were being made for USF students and staff, New College directed questions to another statement on X from Will Weatherford, former speaker of the Florida House who was appointed to the USF Board of Trustees by DeSantis. Weatherford said he was confident the university could “protect our exceptional students, faculty and staff” and that USF would retain all recurring funding from the Sarasota-Manatee campus—allowing it to “invest in other growth initiatives.”
But Nancy Parrish, a former chair of the Ringling Museum Foundation Board and lead organizer of Citizens to Protect the Ringling and USF Sarasota-Manatee, sees it differently.
Nancy Parrish: Rarely does a community of citizens, students, four chambers of commerce come together to all speak with one voice: that the University of South Florida, Sarasota Manatee Campus was vital to our community. It serves veterans, it serves older adults, it serves young people trying to gain a profession and get a job within our own community and stay here, and it’s gone just like that.
Community members packed a “Stop the Shutdown ” rally on the USF campus.
NB: Parrish’s organization rallied over 4,000 citizens within six weeks. Thousands of emails and phone calls flooded legislative offices. None of it changed the outcome.
NP: It tells us that our public servants have lost their way. It is more about power and helping each other and cronyism and some land deal that we all still don’t understand as opposed to serving the public interest.
NB: Parrish pointed specifically to the role of Senator Joe Gruters, whose wife Sidney Gruters held dual leadership roles at New College before resigning to run for Congress.
NP: It’s a deal constructed between lobbyists and special interests and legislators who have lost touch with our community.
NB: The state’s own internal audit found New College is the most excessive spender among Florida’s universities—and also its smallest, with around 700 students. It currently carries roughly $17 million in debt. Under the transfer, it must now assume $53 million in additional debt tied to USF’s residential facilities—debt that USF carried with a triple-A bond rating that New College does not have. That in turn probably means higher borrowing costs for New College.
NB: As for what comes next, Parrish says all options remain on the table, including potential legal action.
NP: We will certainly make sure that the public understands for several months here who let them down—who betrayed the community.
NB: For WSLR News, Noah Bookstein.
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