Sarasota is at a rare crossroads.
The proposed alignment of New College of Florida, USF Sarasota-Manatee and FSU’s Ringling Museum of Art is an opportunity of a lifetime – and it may be the most economically important decision Sarasota has faced in decades.
The truth is America’s most exciting, high-performing cities didn’t grow from industry alone.
They made bold, forward-looking choices. They aligned education, culture and research to build regional strength – and in return, they gained staying power.
Just look at cities like Austin. Pittsburgh and Durham.
They didn’t just attract people; they retained talent. They attracted capital. They built relevance.
Sarasota has potential
Sarasota has that same potential and more – and we’re not starting from scratch. We already have world-class institutions. We already have an extraordinary marine ecosystem, a deep cultural infrastructure and a public that is resourced and deeply invested.
But we’ve kept these strengths siloed. Disconnected. Underleveraged.
That’s the cost of short vision and inaction.
And it’s adding up.
Since 2020 I have served on New College of Florida’s Board of Trustees, and I have had a front-row seat to see the creativity and depth of talent in this region – but also the unmet potential.
And as a longtime Sarasota business owner who is raising his family here, I have also seen how often young talent leaves.
They don’t leave because they want to leave; they leave because there isn’t an integrated path forward for them here.
We can fix this
That’s something we can fix.
Sarasota Bay is one of the most beautiful places in the country, and more than that it’s one of the most biodiverse coastal zones in the United States.
It is a living laboratory for some of the most urgent questions of our time: water quality, marine health, conservation, energy and coastal resilience.
Scientists travel across the world to study this ecosystem, yet our own students don’t have the institutional infrastructure to fully engage with it. That’s a missed opportunity: economically, academically and environmentally.
Now consider this: within a single square mile, Sarasota is home to three powerful institutions – New College of Florida, USF Sarasota-Manatee and FSU’s Ringling Museum of Art.
And yet they often operate like islands.
Buildings are underused.
Programs overlap, but don’t connect.
Faculty are divided by outdated bureaucratic walls.
And all of us – as taxpayers, business owners and residents — are footing the bill for this inefficiency.
A powerful impact
An alignment of these three local institutions wouldn’t erase identity; it would multiply impact.
It’s not about merging organizations or the uniqueness of each brand.
It’s about creating scale and strength. It’s about turning fragmentation into a functional ecosystem – one that supports students, attracts talent, draws capital and builds lasting economic momentum.
The kind that lifts an entire region.
Imagine a corridor of excellence where students seamlessly move between marine science, public policy, environmental law, art history, museum studies, data modeling and entrepreneurship.
Where New College students researching cultural policy partner with FSU’s museum resources.
Where researchers connect with USF’s hospitality programs to create innovative tourism models.
Where every dollar invested stretches much further – because it’s connected.
Don’t squander this opportunity
This is about performance, not politics.
And it’s possibly long overdue.
Sarasota has every advantage. We have natural beauty, cultural prestige, intellectual capital and an incredible quality of life.
But if we don’t build connective infrastructure between our strongest assets, we will watch this opportunity pass us by – and it will go to another city that had the courage to act.
The alignment of New College, USF Sarasota-Manatee and Ringling is more than a campus strategy.
It is a regional strategy with aligned purpose. An economic one. A generational one.
We can either lead into the future or cling to the past. I genuinely hope we come together and meet this moment in time.
Lance Karp is a member of the New College of Florida Board of Trustees. He is a Sarasota dentist and entrepreneur.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Let’s seize chance to align New College, USF Sarasota-Manatee, Ringling | Opinion
Reporting by Lance Karp Guest columnist / Sarasota Herald-Tribune
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