New College recruitment tactics could tarnish academic standing

Yahoo

26-03-2025

I want to thank William Rosenberg for his well-written and insightful column on the current state of New College of Florida under the leadership of President Richard Corcoran.
One point that I believe deserves further attention is the aggressive recruitment tactics currently being employed to attract students.
New College is offering $10,000 scholarships to students and financial incentives to admission staff.
Transfer students are also being enticed with a $3,500 transition stipend each year and the promise of earning a bachelor's degree in just two years.
These measures raise serious concerns about the long-term academic standing and reputation of the institution.
Additionally, Corcoran's push to build an athletic program from scratch appears to be another drastic shift from the college's academic focus.
The sudden introduction of new sports teams and recruitment of athletes, seemingly as a means to boost enrollment further, signals a departure from NCF's core identity and values.
These developments could have lasting consequences for New College's academic integrity and standing.
I hope that these concerns are addressed in future coverage as I believe they are crucial to fully understanding the broader implications of the current leadership's decisions.
I'd like to thank Mr. Rosenberg again for his work on his topic.
Nancy Abramson, Sarasota
Build more homes?
Anybody with a brain can see just by looking at Interstate 75 here in Sarasota at various times of the day – with the many bumper-to-bumper traffic jams – that we do not need nearly as many new homes or apartments as are being built.
We need the infrastructure built out before new homes go up.
I also think planners, our county commissioners and others have grossly overestimated the need for new homes and apartments.
Gregg Rappaport, Sarasota
As a retired Army intelligence colonel with 30 years of experience, I am in total disbelief that the National Security Council 'accidentally' released highly classified information regarding sensitive military operations to a magazine editor with no security clearance or need-to-know access.
There are many safeguards available to senior decision-makers via policies and protocols, as well as their staff officers, that apparently were ignored, intentionally or otherwise.
There is no reason or excuse that I can fathom for such a significant violation of security protocols. None.
Military personnel subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice would face court-martial for such an egregious breach.
I hope the Department of Justice will investigate this security breach and hold the civilian leader/participants in the group chat liable for this violation of national security. Otherwise, what we are seeing is a clown show of how this administration's approach to national security is proceeding.
The credibility of executive branch leadership is on the line for the world to witness.
Antonio S. Lauglaug, Venice, colonel, U.S. Army, retired
For years, under both Republican and Democratic administrations, it has been business as usual, with very little care as to how taxpayer money was being spent.
The result: $36 trillion in debt and an annual deficit of nearly $2 trillion in 2024.
Now we have a new approach: analyze how the money is being spent, cut out waste, fraud and abuse, and balance the budget so the national debt does not grow any larger. It's basically what you would do if you found yourself in the same financial mess.
Based on what is stated daily on this Opinion page: President Donald Trump is destroying the country, and we can't possibly survive with these changes.
But what is the alternative? Without change we will go bankrupt.
For those advocating the status quo, most of whom I suspect are receiving Social Security and Medicare, I ask the following: Are you willing to reduce your benefits as an alternative means of balancing the budget, in order to prevent all of the cuts you are railing against?
If not, leave it to the president, who was elected to reduce the size of government. Your children and grandchildren will thank you.
Artie Reiss, Sarasota
I can both understand and accept that during a war trained soldiers would do anything to win in battle.
I cannot, however, accept a country's military doing whatever it can to kill women and children, and purposely destroy hospitals, schools and churches.
I well remember Hamas' initial attack on Israel that set off the war, but I fear Israel in retaliation must now be accused of genocide.
I feel sorry for the average Jewish and Palestinian citizens who unfortunately are completely helpless.
And I wish we had a president who was able to remain neutral.
Bette Lou Cookson, Sarasota
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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Recruitment tactics at New College could backfire | Letters