Rufo, New College trustees headed to trial for hiding public records

Gov. Ron DeSantis and Christopher Rufo at the governor’s Jan. 31, 2023 press conference

By Daniel Ducassi, FloridaBulldog.org

Militant anti-DEI activist Christopher Rufo is on the path to a trial in Florida state court over allegations he and other board members of New College of Florida illegally withheld records documenting their ideological takeover of the school in 2023.

Rufo, New College and other board members named in the lawsuit seem to be fighting an uphill battle after a key player admitted to destroying records and a judge shot down the school’s legal arguments for why they were refusing to turn over certain records. Twelfth Circuit Judge Stephen Walker in February pointed to Rufo’s own behavior as undermining what the school’s legal team has asserted.

Rufo has become a leading ideological figure in the rising right-wing assault on colleges and universities and a key influencer of White House education policy. The trial could expose some of the tactics he and allies used in this early battle – and to what lengths those in the vanguard of the movement are willing to go to impose their agenda.

The case could also shed light on how the hostile takeover of New College in Sarasota actually unfolded, and what role Gov. Ron DeSantis played behind-the-scenes as he publicly championed the coup. Beyond that, it could confirm suspicions about secret coordination by board members in defiance of state open meetings laws as they quickly moved to axe the school’s president, Dr. Patricia Okker, and replace her with former Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran.