Academic integrity? Right-wing college president's resume omits his failing out of school

The president chosen by Ron DeSantis and supported by Christopher Rufo has a secret

Welcome to a Saturday edition of Progress Report.

Today I’ve got a revealing piece about the secrets of those involved in the conservative assault on higher education. It focuses in part on Christopher Rufo, who helped to oust Harvard President Claudine Gay. It’s maddening to think about these smarmy bigots, but asymmetrical political warfare, especially where the truth is concerned, is always a bad idea.

By the way, I’m also working on the weekly politics and policy wrap-up that will become a regular feature for paid subscribers here at Progress Report. Expect that tomorrow.

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photo: Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Christopher Rufo, who spent three months campaigning for the firing of Harvard President Claudine Gay over issues of “academic integrity,” has not always been so rigorous in his standards.

A right-wing author and progenitor of the panic over trans children and Critical Race Theory, Rufo last year was named by Gov. Ron DeSantis to the board of New College of Florida, which for decades was known for its open, queer-friendly campus. Once Rufo and fellow board members fired the school’s president, he enthusiastically supported the hiring of Richard Corcoran, a conservative firebrand who had previously served as Speaker of the state House and as Florida’s education commissioner.

“BREAKING: The New College of Florida board of trustees has selected Richard Corcoran, who is currently serving as interim president, to be the permanent president of the university,” Rufo wrote in a tweet. “Congratulations to Mr. Corcoran, who will lead the college's continued transformation and the restoration of the classical liberal arts in the State of Florida.”

The application that Corcoran submitted to New College included a 17-page resume, with everything from professional accomplishments to speeches he’d given and testimonials from political allies. It also listed his own academic history — or some of it, at least. Missing from that section was the time he spent at the University of Florida, which was cut short when he was suspended for having a 0.43 GPA.

Corcoran’s five semesters at UF were largely spent skipping classes and playing sports at the gym. He ultimately earned just six credits, at which point the school sent him packing. He would later resume his education at community college and then finish his bachelor’s at St. Leo College, a local Catholic school. Then it was on to earning a law degree from Regent University, a Christian college founded by the televangelist Pat Robertson.

In 2021, Corcoran sought the top job at Florida State University, enlisting political allies and wealthy members of the school’s Board of Trustees to further his candidacy. He was left off the list of finalists after the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools sent the school a letter warning that because Corcoran sat on the school’s board of trustees, his appointment would risk Florida State’s accreditation.

The letter also reminded the search committee that school presidents should have “appropriate experience and qualifications to lead the institution,” a not-so-subtle reference to Corcoran’s background.

There is nothing wrong with taking non-traditional route to a degree, and in fact, that option should be more available to millions of Americans. Perhaps Corcoran could have admitted that he’d been suspended by the University of Florida for dismal academic failure and still have gotten the job at New College, but instead he chose to bury that part of his academic history in his application to run a highly regarded university, purposely misleading the public.

Then again, Corcoran’s appointment did not seem to hinge on public opinion, academic integrity, or even support for public education. In November, while campaigning for Gay to be fired from Harvard, Rufo praised Corcoran and a piece he wrote in the Wall Street Journal about their effort to dismantle New College.

“While our elite universities succumb to the mob, New College of Florida president Richard Corcoran explains how we are restoring the principles of civil discourse and providing a better environment for scholars, students, and the public,” Rufo tweeted.

Rufo himself has his own qualification issues: He was caught listing himself as the recipient of a Master’s Degree from Harvard University when his certificate was actually issued by the Harvard Extension School, an online degree mill with few standards for admittance. Again, there’s nothing wrong with a degree from that school, but Rufo clearly mislabeled it to exaggerate his own academic credentials.

Neither of these things matter to Gov. Ron DeSantis, who appointed both men to install conservative ideology at New College and throughout the rest of Florida’s public college system, academic integrity be damned.

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