If you happened to be scrolling through channels late Sunday night, you might have stumbled across an unexpected but familiar sight: the bayfront views of the original winter home of circus magnate Charles Ringling—now known as College Hall, the academic and administrative building of New College of Florida. For the last several years, the tiny Sarasota enclave has occupied a persistent, polarizing place in headlines big and small—and on Sunday night, that long-running conflict landed onto one of television’s biggest stages.

In a blistering 28-minute segment on Last Week Tonight, host John Oliver turned his satirical lens toward the local liberal arts college that became ground zero for the conservative movement’s efforts to reshape higher education. Backed by months of research and interviews with current and former students, faculty and alumni—including the independent alumni organization Novo Collegian Alliance—the segment traced the political takeover and institutional upheaval that have transformed the campus since 2023. 

For former and current New College students who have borne close witness to watching what Oliver called a “political theater” reshape where they live and learn, seeing the story broadcast to millions across platforms felt surreal.

"We've watched this destruction of a great educational program for the last three and a half years. Seeing it brought to national attention is both hard to see but also cathartic,” says Brian Cody, secretary of the Novo Collegian Alliance. "Seeing his face next to the null set [the college’s beloved former mascot, which Oliver described as 'the single dorkiest thing' he had ever heard] is just crazy.”

Oliver opened the segment by introducing viewers to the New College generations of Sarasotans have known since the ’60s: a small public honors college known for attracting unusually intellectual students, self-directed study and narrative evaluations instead of traditional grades and a reputation for attracting unusually intellectual students—or, as Oliver affectionately put it, being "a rare haven for gentle nerds." He highlighted the school's academic track record, including a 2018 report showing that 80 percent of graduates attended graduate school within five years and that New College ranked third nationally among public and private institutions for producing graduates who go on to earn doctoral degrees.

Oliver then revisited Gov. Ron DeSantis’ early 2023 appointment of six conservative allies to the college’s board of trustees. He described the takeover not merely as an effort to “recapture an institution,” but to “provide a model for red states to then replicate.”

That national ambition was openly shared by conservative activist Christopher Rufo, one of the newly appointed trustees. At the time of his appointment, Oliver pointed out, Rufo tweeted, “We are now over the wall and ready to transform higher education from within.” He doubled down on this language later in his foreword to Storming the Ivory Tower, a book written by New College president and former Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran. In it, Rufo praised Corcoran for implementing "the vision of Governor Ron DeSantis," adding: "He fought the press—and won. Florida has become the blueprint for red-state governance.”

Much of the segment focused on those efforts by Corcoran. Oliver highlighted what he framed as a tension between promises of restored academic rigor and the realities of the college’s recent trajectory. He pointed to faculty departures, Corcoran’s nearly $700,000 annual salary (the highest per-student compensation of any public university president in Florida, with perks and bonuses pushing total compensation above $1 million), and the dismantling of longstanding programs and campus traditions.

He also highlighted a series of controversial hires, including vice provost David Rancourt, a former lobbyist with no prior experience in higher education. Oliver claimed that “the most noteworthy thing” Rancourt had done since his appointment was participate in a stand-up comedy night in which he described an incident from childhood in which he exposed his genitalia to a child the same age, referring to her as a “little b—-.” Ironically, Oliver also pointed to former communications director Fred Piccolo to make his point, whose tenure ended after multiple charges of indecent exposure became public.

The segment also examined one of the administration’s most frequently cited achievements: enrollment growth.

While incoming classes have increased since the takeover, Oliver argued that the gains come with important caveats. He cited reports from former admissions employees who alleged that academic standards had been lowered, and he spent several minutes on the college’s expanded recruitment of athletes, including roughly 70 baseball players the first year, when there were no athletic facilities. He also noted reporting that student-athletes have received a disproportionately large share of merit-based scholarships despite, on average, holding weaker academic credentials than other applicants.

For Cody, it was affirming to see these points surface on a national stage, but he noted there is even more to the story, saying that “they keep bringing in these big classes, but last year they only grew by 22 students compared to the year prior. They’re coming in to play sports but are leaving after a year or two. They’re wasting money recruiting people, but not keeping them.”

Oliver scrutinized the financial implications of the changes, citing a state audit that found New College’s public cost per degree had risen to nearly $500,000—far higher than other institutions in Florida’s university system. Cody added that, in the wake of a recent move by lawmakers to slash the college’s operating budget by 40 percent, the consequences of that spending trajectory may soon become more acute.

Throughout the piece, Oliver argued that New College had become a vehicle for political performance rather than educational reform, a view echoed by one current student who described the changes as disorienting and personal. “It feels like New College has become a political playground for what these people want the country to be," she said. "I’m upset—this is my education.” Another student in his final year described being moved out of his campus housing by administration to make room for incoming athletes. 

“Depressingly,” said Oliver in closing, “this is the exact sort of smash-and-grab we’re seeing in so many places right now, from public health to newspapers to broadcast news. Ideologues capture something they dislike, claim they want to fix it, and then proceed to dismantle it. But seldom has that been more blatant than watching people talk about great debates and classical education, only to drive away faculty, dismiss books as trash, and assemble a veritable Avengers of D-list conservatives, celebrities, creeps and weirdos—all so they can lecture the world’s single largest baseball team.”

Corcoran didn’t reply to a request for a phone interview but released a statement to Sarasota Magazine, referencing “record enrollment growth, rising academic achievement, significant philanthropic investment, historic growth in foundation support and endowment assets, [and] the recruitment of exceptional faculty.” Despite the show's focus on campus upheaval, Corcoran maintained that the administration's efforts have ultimately resulted in “a strengthened campus culture rooted in intellectual freedom, civil discourse, and academic freedom.” He added that the college had repeatedly invited John Oliver to visit campus, meet with students and faculty, film on site or participate in an open conversation on its Socratic Stage, noting that the invitation “was declined” but “remains open.” 

William Rosenberg—president of the Novo Collegian Alliance—on the other hand, praised the segment, saying, “John Oliver has a rare gift for making people laugh without letting them look away.” He added that while as humorous as the segment may have been, “what is happening at New College is no laughing matter for the students, faculty and staff living through it every day.”

To watch Last Week Tonight's segment on New College of Florida, click here.