On May 22, Alan Dershowitz, a renowned attorney and scholar, spoke at New College of Florida as part of the school’s Socratic Stage Dialogue Series. The following day, Dershowitz delivered the keynote address for New College’s 2025 commencement ceremony.
During his Socratic Stage appearance, Dershowitz made a reference to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which is commonly known as FIRE. It is a national group that ranks American colleges and universities according to their track records on protecting free speech.
Dershowitz described FIRE as a “very good organization,” and added that while he didn’t know what New College’s ranking was with the group, he was sure it was very good.
But Dershowitz may have been unaware that FIRE and New College of Florida President Richard Corcoran had a significant exchange two years ago.
Wallenberg’s troubling non-renewal
On May 12, 2023, Erik Wallenberg – a visiting assistant professor of history at New College – learned that his contract to teach at the school would not be renewed.
In February 2023, Wallenberg expressed support for New College students who took part in a statewide student walkout to protest Florida’s higher education policies under Gov. Ron DeSantis.
In his 2024 book “Storming the Ivory Tower,” Corcoran explained Wallenberg’s departure by merely noting that not renewing a visiting professor’s contract “is not an uncommon practice in academia.”
Wallenberg’s exit, however, was important enough for New College of Florida Board Trustee Christopher Rufo to openly mock the professor for his de facto dismissal in a June 6, 2023, social media post.
In his post, Rufo sarcastically wished Wallenberg well, and expressed his hope that the scholar’s “work on ‘radical theatre and environmental movements’ finds a more suitable home.”
This drew the attention of FIRE, which decided to look into the case of Wallenberg’s non-renewal.
On June 8, 2023, FIRE sent a letter to Corcoran noting that retaliating “against public college faculty for their First Amendment-protected expression is unlawful” – and also expressing concern over Rufo’s public comments regarding Wallenberg.
Six days later, Corcoran sent a strongly worded reply letter to FIRE in which he defended Rufo’s right to freely express himself as a private citizen – and dismissively suggested that Wallenberg’s non-renewal was nothing more than a “minor” HR decision.
Corcoran has little to say
But Corcoran has consistently had little to say about these facts regarding Wallenberg’s exit:
I asked Wallenberg and Grossman whether they had received detailed replies from New College, and both men said they had not.
Falling short of the standard
In Dershowitz’s 2023 book “Get Trump: The Threat to Civil Liberties, Due Process, and Our Constitutional Rule of Law,” the prominent legal figure refers to the play “A Man for All Seasons” by the late playwright-screenwriter Robert Bolt.
In his play, Bolt explored the theme that people in positions of power must obey rules, including the rule to tell the truth, in all circumstances – in other words, in “all seasons” – because if they don’t, their exercise of power becomes abusive even if their intentions are good.
But has Corcoran met that standard regarding the non-renewal of Erik Wallenberg’s contract? Or when it comes to explaining the departures of numerous other New College scholars and staffers?
Too often under Corcoran’s leadership, New College of Florida has undermined academic freedom, ignored institutional transparency and even failed to show a simple sense of decency.
There is a scene in Bolt’s play in which his protagonist, Sir Thomas More, asks that if every rule were broken – even to pursue a noble end – “Do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then?”
To many in the New College of Florida community, Richard Corcoran’s presidency has resembled the winds of a hurricane: destructive, relentless and, ominously, growing in strength.
As for Dershowitz’s comment about FIRE and his offhand belief that New College must be drawing high ratings from the group for promoting free speech, it’s worth noting the following:
As of April 2025, FIRE’s overall speech code rating for New College was “yellow” – which, according to FIRE, is the traffic light color it gives to colleges and universities that have “at least one ambiguous policy that too easily encourages administrative abuse and arbitrary application.”
FIRE also notes that at public institutions – like New College – “yellow light policies are unconstitutional.”
Rodrigo Díaz is a Class of 1991 alumnus of New College of Florida.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: New College of Florida preaches about free speech. Does the school practice it? | Opinion
Reporting by Rodrigo Diaz Guest columnist / Sarasota Herald-Tribune
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