New College alumni chair says poor fund management and lack of transparency led to his resignation
By Mahika Kukday
March 27, 2025 at 5:05 AM EDT
Ben Brown said he was forced to step down from his post of two years after alumni concerns over mismanaged funds were repeatedly ignored.
The changes continue at New College, as the chair of the alumni association resigned on Monday.
In an 11-page letter addressed to the Sarasota liberal arts college’s alumni community, Ben Brown stepped down, citing concerns over mismanaged funds and operations and a lack of transparency by university leadership.
Brown held the post since July 2023.
His tenure was set to end in three months, but the New York state-based education law attorney said there are “two main reasons” why he stepped down now.
Ben Brown addressed the Board of Governors, the entity that oversees Florida's public universities, in Tallahassee on March 26 regarding his concerns about New College's funding issues. (1920x1080, AR: 1.7777777777777777)
“The first is the financial situation at the New College Foundation where the alumni concerns about the stewardship of funds reached such a level that I couldn’t continue,” he said.
READ MORE: Emails detail plans to ‘transfer’ USF Sarasota-Manatee campus to New College
Although Brown did not have direct evidence of any financial mismanagement of the school's $50 million endowment, he stated in his letter that the circumstantial evidence he had was enough.
“The administration tasked the Foundation with levels and categories of expense that appeared implausible,” he wrote, adding that paying for President Richard Corcoran’s $700,000 annual salary and various athletic expenses were too large of a responsibility for the Foundation.
“Thus alumni could — and did — reasonably ask how the Foundation was managing to meet this level of expense without trodding upon fund restrictions.”
The second reason for Brown’s departure, he said, was the association’s faith in the university’s ability to achieve its long-term goals had dwindled significantly.
“This administration has not managed to get New College going in a productive direction despite having a lot of public fiscal investment,” he said.
One factor that significantly contributed to the alienation of the alumni group was the way New College’s direct spend rate has operated since June 2023.
The spend rate is the rate at which the university is authorized to spend money from its endowment. New College's spend rate is 3.5%. In his letter, Brown said the university is using only 1.25% of that for projects that the money was intended to pay for.
The remaining 2.25% goes to what Brown called an ambiguous administrative fee, which he said was being used to cover the gaps in leadership salaries and athletic expenses.
Brown graduated from New College in 2009. He served as student body president in 2008, and had been on the Alumni Association Board of Directors since 2019.
He wrote that it was embarrassing and awkward for him to interact with donors in his capacity as alumni association chair, knowing that such a small percentage of their donations is being spent how they intended.
With a possible New College takeover of both the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus and the Ringling Museum in the works, Brown said changes need to be made.
“New College and USF Sarasota-Manatee have collaborated on a number of things over the years quite successfully, sharing certain services like the fitness center and police,” he said. “But we need an administration that’s demonstrated more of a record of effective fiscal and operational management.”
New College documents show if the college acquires USF-SM, foundation funds from USF would not be conveyed to New College.
Brown thinks that’s because “the New College Foundation right now would be a poor host for philanthropic gifts that are now managed by USF because the Foundation has some issues that they need to work out first.”
Among those issues, he explained, is increasing transparency regarding financial processes and effectively using the public funds that the university receives.
As for the Ringling Museum, Brown agrees that New College’s nature as a liberal arts college would greatly benefit from the collaboration.
But managing the Ringling would be a massive operational, financial and administrative undertaking, which Florida State University currently handles.
New College spokesperson Alexandra Nicole Islas told the Tampa Bay Times the university is grateful for Brown's time and will him well in his future endeavors.
“We understand that the recent changes at the college, aimed at strengthening its future as an elite institution, haven’t been easy for everyone, and we respect his decision to move forward,” Islas said.
In an 11-page letter addressed to the Sarasota liberal arts college’s alumni community, Ben Brown stepped down, citing concerns over mismanaged funds and operations and a lack of transparency by university leadership.
Brown held the post since July 2023.
His tenure was set to end in three months, but the New York state-based education law attorney said there are “two main reasons” why he stepped down now.
Ben Brown addressed the Board of Governors, the entity that oversees Florida's public universities, in Tallahassee on March 26 regarding his concerns about New College's funding issues. (1920x1080, AR: 1.7777777777777777)
“The first is the financial situation at the New College Foundation where the alumni concerns about the stewardship of funds reached such a level that I couldn’t continue,” he said.
READ MORE: Emails detail plans to ‘transfer’ USF Sarasota-Manatee campus to New College
Although Brown did not have direct evidence of any financial mismanagement of the school's $50 million endowment, he stated in his letter that the circumstantial evidence he had was enough.
“The administration tasked the Foundation with levels and categories of expense that appeared implausible,” he wrote, adding that paying for President Richard Corcoran’s $700,000 annual salary and various athletic expenses were too large of a responsibility for the Foundation.
“Thus alumni could — and did — reasonably ask how the Foundation was managing to meet this level of expense without trodding upon fund restrictions.”
The second reason for Brown’s departure, he said, was the association’s faith in the university’s ability to achieve its long-term goals had dwindled significantly.
“This administration has not managed to get New College going in a productive direction despite having a lot of public fiscal investment,” he said.
One factor that significantly contributed to the alienation of the alumni group was the way New College’s direct spend rate has operated since June 2023.
The spend rate is the rate at which the university is authorized to spend money from its endowment. New College's spend rate is 3.5%. In his letter, Brown said the university is using only 1.25% of that for projects that the money was intended to pay for.
The remaining 2.25% goes to what Brown called an ambiguous administrative fee, which he said was being used to cover the gaps in leadership salaries and athletic expenses.
Brown graduated from New College in 2009. He served as student body president in 2008, and had been on the Alumni Association Board of Directors since 2019.
He wrote that it was embarrassing and awkward for him to interact with donors in his capacity as alumni association chair, knowing that such a small percentage of their donations is being spent how they intended.
With a possible New College takeover of both the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus and the Ringling Museum in the works, Brown said changes need to be made.
“New College and USF Sarasota-Manatee have collaborated on a number of things over the years quite successfully, sharing certain services like the fitness center and police,” he said. “But we need an administration that’s demonstrated more of a record of effective fiscal and operational management.”
New College documents show if the college acquires USF-SM, foundation funds from USF would not be conveyed to New College.
Brown thinks that’s because “the New College Foundation right now would be a poor host for philanthropic gifts that are now managed by USF because the Foundation has some issues that they need to work out first.”
Among those issues, he explained, is increasing transparency regarding financial processes and effectively using the public funds that the university receives.
As for the Ringling Museum, Brown agrees that New College’s nature as a liberal arts college would greatly benefit from the collaboration.
But managing the Ringling would be a massive operational, financial and administrative undertaking, which Florida State University currently handles.
New College spokesperson Alexandra Nicole Islas told the Tampa Bay Times the university is grateful for Brown's time and will him well in his future endeavors.
“We understand that the recent changes at the college, aimed at strengthening its future as an elite institution, haven’t been easy for everyone, and we respect his decision to move forward,” Islas said.