How a small Florida college became Trump’s blueprint to threaten higher ed in Mass.

This article is the first in a series examining higher education under the Trump administration.

Along the winding roads surrounding New College of Florida on a recent cold November day were the scattered remains of blue-and-white protest signs from two years ago. Standing between palm trees and moss-draped oaks near the Sarasota Bay, the signs read: “Your Campus is Next.”

The student-made signs spread in 2023 as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis transformed the state’s only public liberal arts college into an increasingly politically conservative institution. The majority of board-of-trustees positions are now in conservative hands, gender studies and diversity, equity and inclusion work was abolished, the college broke ground on a divisive new collegiate athletic program and more than 100 of