Lawsuit accuses New College and Trustee Christopher Rufo of violating public records law

A nonprofit group focused on government accountability is alleging in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that New College of Florida and new trustee Christoper Rufo have withheld public records in violation of state law.

Sarasota attorney Andrea Mogensen filed the lawsuit in the 12th Judicial Circuit on behalf of the Florida Center for Government Accountability, which requested text messages and logs of all texts and phone calls made by Rufo between Jan. 6, when Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed him to the New College board, and Jan. 23.

The Florida Center for Government Accountability made the records request on Jan. 23. New College acknowledged receipt of the request on Feb. 1 but has yet to provide the public records, according to the complaint.

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“We are concerned about the turmoil at New College following the appointment of several trustees, including statements about political motives to reshape the university," said Michael Barfield, director of public access for FLCGA. "The Center made a public records request to find out what is going on behind the scenes. We have not received any records in response to our request."

"Florida’s Public Records Act is vital to a functioning democracy and is a right of constitutional dimension," Barfield added. "We consent to be governed and demand transparency from our elected and appointed officials.”

Rufo is a prominent conservative activist who recently has led a campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion policies in universities, and also has focused on how race and gender issues are discussed in schools.

DeSantis appointed Rufo and five other new trustees to the New College board on the same day in a bid to completely transform the small, 63-year-old Sarasota liberal arts school. The governor's experiment in conservative higher education reform has drawn national attention.

The new trustees moved quickly to fire former New College President Patricia Okker on Jan. 31. At that same meeting a new trustee proposed hiring Richard Corcoran, DeSantis' former education secretary, as interim president.

The Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the state university system, gave final approval Wednesday to Corcoran's contract. He will take over as interim president on Feb. 27 at a base salary of $699,000, more than double what Okker was earning.