‘Everyone’s on board again,’ New College says about takeover. USF disagrees
By Kerry Sheridan
August 28, 2025 at 4:20 PM EDT
A backdoor plan to hand the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus to New College was revealed in public records last year and eventually dissolved. Observers have anticipated the issue could come up again.
“Everyone’s on board again,” New College of Florida president Richard Corcoran said Wednesday, apparently referring to a renewed attempt to take over the neighboring Sarasota-Manatee campus of the University of South Florida.
That proposed deal never materialized, despite internal documents that showed USF had drafted the legislation and New College prepared press releases to announce the decision as early as February as part of New College's effort to expand its student body and campus footprint.
On Thursday, USF denied that any high-level talks with New College were underway.
“No bills were filed during last year’s legislative session, and since that time USF leadership has not been engaged in discussions with New College of Florida about expanding our partnership,” USF spokeswoman Althea Johnson said in a statement.
“USF is proud to be the only preeminent state university and Association of American Universities member located in the Sarasota-Manatee region, and we look forward to continuing to serve the area.”
The USF Sarasota-Manatee campus is less than a mile away from New College of Florida in Sarasota. (3194x2396, AR: 1.3330550918196995)
Johnson also pointed to the approval this month of a “$6.5 million project to build a new STEM academic facility on the Sarasota-Manatee campus, providing new lab space for students and faculty,” as evidence of USF’s commitment.
The takeover issue came up Wednesday, when Corcoran said he still wants more dormitory space at USF Sarasota-Manatee, and signaled he would try again to strike some kind of deal, the specifics of which were unclear.
"If we can work out and finalize the deal with the Legislature, it was pretty much done. USF had signed off on it. We had signed off on it. The governor had signed off on it,” Corcoran said at a board of trustees meeting.
“The Legislature is, like, we talked about last night at the master plan. It's, you know, making sausage. Go figure. But everyone's on board again," Corcoran said.
ALSO READ: New College's 'field of dreams' hung up by lack of FAA approvals
The deal under consideration this winter would have given USF Sarasota-Manatee, including new dorms, to New College in exchange for wiping out $53 million in debt for USF.
But alumni, students and local business leaders with strong ties to USF spoke out against the idea and the transfer never materialized.
In June, some USF Sarasota-Manatee board members said if any merger were to take place, USF should take the lead, and USF president Rhea Law expressed her gratitude to those “willing to fight with us.”
The campuses are less than a mile apart on the east shore of Sarasota Bay.
Just over two years ago, New College’s board of trustees was taken over by allies of Gov. Ron DeSantis in a bid to remake the honors college into a southern version of the private Hillsdale College in Michigan, which focuses on conservative ideals and what it calls “classical education.”
Part of New College’s transformation has involved expanding athletics offerings, including baseball, lacrosse and soccer.
But plans to construct new fields have run into regulatory hurdles from the Federal Aviation Administration, because the new sports fields would largely be on land the college leases from Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport.
A million-dollar project to build a baseball venue called Beruff Family Field of Dreams has stalled because it would be partly on land owned by New College, and partly on land the school leases from the airport. Construction is already months behind schedule.
At Wednesday’s meeting Corcoran addressed the delays and spoke of his hopes for the fiscal year that ends in June 2026.
"Hopefully, we'll have the baseball field done,” Corcoran said, adding he is “very optimistic … given the great partnership that we have with the airport, that we'll have an airport deal done in this fiscal year."
Corcoran did not specify what kind of deal. A New College spokesman gave no further details, and airport CEO Rick Piccolo did not respond to requests for comment.
The FAA last year blocked the airport's attempt to sell 30 acres of its property to New College, saying it was not in the airport's best interest.
That proposed deal never materialized, despite internal documents that showed USF had drafted the legislation and New College prepared press releases to announce the decision as early as February as part of New College's effort to expand its student body and campus footprint.
On Thursday, USF denied that any high-level talks with New College were underway.
“No bills were filed during last year’s legislative session, and since that time USF leadership has not been engaged in discussions with New College of Florida about expanding our partnership,” USF spokeswoman Althea Johnson said in a statement.
“USF is proud to be the only preeminent state university and Association of American Universities member located in the Sarasota-Manatee region, and we look forward to continuing to serve the area.”
The USF Sarasota-Manatee campus is less than a mile away from New College of Florida in Sarasota. (3194x2396, AR: 1.3330550918196995)
Johnson also pointed to the approval this month of a “$6.5 million project to build a new STEM academic facility on the Sarasota-Manatee campus, providing new lab space for students and faculty,” as evidence of USF’s commitment.
The takeover issue came up Wednesday, when Corcoran said he still wants more dormitory space at USF Sarasota-Manatee, and signaled he would try again to strike some kind of deal, the specifics of which were unclear.
"If we can work out and finalize the deal with the Legislature, it was pretty much done. USF had signed off on it. We had signed off on it. The governor had signed off on it,” Corcoran said at a board of trustees meeting.
“The Legislature is, like, we talked about last night at the master plan. It's, you know, making sausage. Go figure. But everyone's on board again," Corcoran said.
ALSO READ: New College's 'field of dreams' hung up by lack of FAA approvals
The deal under consideration this winter would have given USF Sarasota-Manatee, including new dorms, to New College in exchange for wiping out $53 million in debt for USF.
But alumni, students and local business leaders with strong ties to USF spoke out against the idea and the transfer never materialized.
In June, some USF Sarasota-Manatee board members said if any merger were to take place, USF should take the lead, and USF president Rhea Law expressed her gratitude to those “willing to fight with us.”
The campuses are less than a mile apart on the east shore of Sarasota Bay.
Just over two years ago, New College’s board of trustees was taken over by allies of Gov. Ron DeSantis in a bid to remake the honors college into a southern version of the private Hillsdale College in Michigan, which focuses on conservative ideals and what it calls “classical education.”
Part of New College’s transformation has involved expanding athletics offerings, including baseball, lacrosse and soccer.
But plans to construct new fields have run into regulatory hurdles from the Federal Aviation Administration, because the new sports fields would largely be on land the college leases from Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport.
A million-dollar project to build a baseball venue called Beruff Family Field of Dreams has stalled because it would be partly on land owned by New College, and partly on land the school leases from the airport. Construction is already months behind schedule.
At Wednesday’s meeting Corcoran addressed the delays and spoke of his hopes for the fiscal year that ends in June 2026.
"Hopefully, we'll have the baseball field done,” Corcoran said, adding he is “very optimistic … given the great partnership that we have with the airport, that we'll have an airport deal done in this fiscal year."
Corcoran did not specify what kind of deal. A New College spokesman gave no further details, and airport CEO Rick Piccolo did not respond to requests for comment.
The FAA last year blocked the airport's attempt to sell 30 acres of its property to New College, saying it was not in the airport's best interest.