NCF Board of Trustees approves revised contract for Richard Corcoran
Vice Chair Ron Christaldi tuning in to the Feb. 21 Special BOT Meeting from his car. Photo taken by Basil Pursley

NCF Board of Trustees approves revised contract for Richard Corcoran

Incoming Interim New College President Richard Corcoran’s employment contract was approved on Feb. 21 by the Board of Trustees (BOT), including his lofty base salary of $699,000. Approval of Corcoran’s contract was the only action item at this virtual Special BOT meeting, and judging by…

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Alumni Letter addressing the New College Foundation
A photo of the Keating Center, where the New College Foundation office is location. Photo courtesy of ncf.edu

Alumni Letter addressing the New College Foundation

The following is a letter written to the New College Foundation on Feb. 21, 2023. It has been signed by 156 New College alumni, with cohorts ranging from the 1960s to New College's most recent graduating class. Dear Members of the New College Foundation:   The…

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Former New College President Patricia Okker gives first interview
Former New College president Patricia Okker, courtesy of LinkedIn.

Former New College President Patricia Okker gives first interview

We don’t know what could happen was the general sentiment shared by many members of the New College community in the weeks leading up to the first Board of Trustees (BOT) meeting scheduled just after a slate of new conservative appointments by Gov. Ron DeSantis.…

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Student letters addressed to Dr. Patricia Okker
Letters from New College students to their former president. Photo courtesy of Nickolas Steinig

Student letters addressed to Dr. Patricia Okker

Current students were invited to submit open, unsigned letters to Dr. Patricia Okker, for initial “delivery” via publication in the Catalyst. The full text of each submission appears below. Dear former president Okker,I am sorry to hear about your termination. I sincerely hope that you…

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Alumni Reunion Weekend: A decades-long history of courage, resistance and hilarious antics
A crowd of alumni with cohorts dating back to the 60s, gathered in Palm Court. Photo taken by Nickolas Steinig

Alumni Reunion Weekend: A decades-long history of courage, resistance and hilarious antics

For weeks prior to the event, the New College Alumni Facebook group was abuzz with folks making plans for accommodations and social gatherings for the upcoming Alumni Weekend. Dozens of alums returned to campus on Feb. 17 and 18 for the opportunity to connect and…

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Artificial Intelligence or just text prediction? How ChatGPT and other Open AI programs function
An AI-generated New College student. Photo courtesy of Basil Pursley and DALL-E

Artificial Intelligence or just text prediction? How ChatGPT and other Open AI programs function

OpenAI, the renowned artificial intelligence research laboratory, has made groundbreaking progress in the field of natural language processing with its state-of-the-art language model, ChatGPT. As one of the largest language models in the world, ChatGPT has been able to generate coherent and realistic text in…

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New College’s basketball team outlasts Ringling in 43-42 victory
The New College team in a timeout huddle. (Photo taken by Janie Day.)

New College’s basketball team outlasts Ringling in 43-42 victory

In Fall 2022, the recently-established New College basketball team provided a place for students to learn the basics of the sport and jump on the courts for a pick-up game or two. While the team’s primary purpose is to be a source of Novocollegian sportsmanship…

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Board of Trustees approves Corcoran’s Interim President contract: NCF faces uncertain future
The Board of Trustees (BOT) and a handful of other New College administrators present for the Special BOT Meeting on Feb. 13 via Zoom. Photo taken by Sophia Brown

Board of Trustees approves Corcoran’s Interim President contract: NCF faces uncertain future

After a deeply disruptive Jan. 31 meeting, the New College Board of Trustees (BOT) was not expected to meet again until the end of February. However, on Feb. 6, it was posted on the New College website that a Special BOT Meeting would be held…

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New College’s faculty meets for first time this year, focus on retaining values
Faculty applauding Provost Sherman following her opening statement. Photo taken by Nic Steinig

New College’s faculty meets for first time this year, focus on retaining values

On Feb. 8, the New College of Florida’s faculty held their first public meeting since the announcement of new appointments to the Board of Trustees (BOT). It was also the first in-person faculty meeting since the coronavirus pandemic began. Professors and staff from across the…

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“You are not alone”: words from Representative Anna Eskamani to the New College community
A protest sign outside of the Sudakoff Center on Jan. 31. (Taken by Sophia Brown.)

“You are not alone”: words from Representative Anna Eskamani to the New College community

Since the Jan. 6 announcement of six new conservative-aligned Board of Trustee (BOT) members appointed at New College of Florida, Representative Anna Eskamani (District 47- Democrat) has spoken out frequently and firmly in opposition to the decision. Taking to social media platforms like Twitter and…

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