New College not a good neighbor
Since 2023, Richard Corcoran’s presidency at New College of Florida has been disastrous.
Spending is $90,000 per student, nine times the state average.
Admission test scores and college ranking have slid to new lows.
No longer is “New College the Honors College” – it is “New College, the Dishonored College.”
Corcoran’s latest antics concern the input of stakeholders regarding New College’s Campus Master Plan.
During the first public meeting on Jan. 22, 2024, a draft plan was unveiled during – and not prior to – the meeting.
There weren’t even enough copies to distribute to the attendees.
New College’s administration asked for attendees’ comments and their contact information, and attendees clearly asked to be participants throughout the planning process.
But on June 26, 2025, the 201-page Campus Master Plan was sent to me not from New College’s administration, but from neighbors.
And on July 15, 2025, the administration gave a 14-minute – seriously! – presentation of the plan.
It was followed by a question-and-answer session held in a loud, crowded room with simultaneous conversations, which required having to shout to be heard.
Does this type of community input demonstrate Corcoran’s incompetence?
Or has it been a planned farce?
Residents in the quiet Uplands community, both north of and adjacent to New College, would be significantly impacted by the campus plan due to increased traffic and noise.
Several representatives have asked for – and deserve to have – a seat at the planning table, but Corcoran still hasn’t invited them.
Ruth Folit, Sarasota
FPL rate hike display of greed
The more I read about Florida Power & Light’s rate increase, the more I am concerned that Florida’s residential customers are going to get the short end of the stick.
Let’s face it, this is all about FPL’s profit margin.
Evidently FPL needs 12% profit to keep its stockholders happy.
But I don’t think it’s the purpose of the Florida Public Service Commission to keep a utility’s investors happy at the expense of the silent majority of people in Florida.
When I started Investing, public utilities were happy with 8% profit, which is about what would make any average investor happy.
The problem isn’t the cost of producing electricity; the problem is good old-fashioned American greed,
This is what is hollowing out the middle class of America and forcing more and more people to live paycheck to paycheck and then become homeless!
It’s time to stop being part of the problem and to start becoming part of the solution. Stop the uncontrolled greed.
John Newman, Bradenton
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: New College of Florida campus plan, FPL rate hikes put residents through hell | Letters
Reporting by Sarasota Herald-Tribune / Sarasota Herald-Tribune
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