Misrepresentations of New College Continue in the Herald Tribune

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- by Sydney Gruters

Unfortunately, the guest column published Tuesday is full of fraudulent statements with no basis in fact. Pieces such as this are an all-to regular occurrence in the Herald Tribune, giving voice to a host of characters who lack credibility to accurately discuss New College of Florida. 

The writer at least correctly noted the value of the Foundation’s endowment at $49 million, although he failed to mention the growth of almost $5 million in the last 16 months. This was accomplished through improved fiscal responsibility, including slashing overhead costs and investing wisely.

The writer asserts that President Richard Corcoran is at war with the New College Foundation. I can assure you that the Foundation works on a day-to-day basis in concert with the New College administration, and the relationship has never been stronger in New College’s history. It’s exhausting to have to provide a fact check to such unserious accusations, but I will do so.

·   ​Made a push – without explanation – to replace the Foundation’s investment firm, Rothschild & Co. FALSE

The procurement process Rothschild participated in and was selected from, was to fulfill outsourced chief investment officer services from 2020-2023. This required that we evaluate investment firm options after three years. The Foundation’s considerable assets must be invested soundly to yield the most impactful return. Issuing an RFP, accepting bids, and considering prospective investment firms to make sure the best possible partner is stewarding these investments is simply due diligence and fiduciary responsibility put into practice. The Foundation’s investment committee was tasked with running a thorough and transparent search to select a firm to provide investing services, a nearly yearlong process that is still ongoing.  

·   ​Abruptly issued a report alleging that Rothschild & Co. lacked a proper internal control environment. FALSE

Claiming this came about abruptly is not accurate at all. In fact, the first report to raise these concerns came from Crowe, an independent public accounting firm retained by the Board of Governors. That report was dated August 12, 2022, long before President Corcoran or the current Foundation leadership team arrived. 

The Office of Internal Audit and Compliance completed a second audit of the Foundation and found numerous other internal control deficiencies, including the inadequacy of the Internal Control Environment report provided by Rothschild. Lacking an independent System and Organization Controls evaluation, the documentation provided by Rothschild was insufficient under the AICPA’s Service Organization Control Report standards, and it was necessary to issue a report noting these discoveries.

·   ​Purported to appoint members to the Foundation Board without bylaw authority – and without any discussion with the Foundation committee, which was in the process of nominating new board members. FALSE

No board member has been appointed to the Foundation Board without proper consideration of bylaws. To claim otherwise is simply untrue.

The column’s author goes on to impugn the integrity of our recent internal investigation, by extension questioning the work of our Chief Audit Executive, Alex Tzoumas. Mr. Tzoumas has more than 30 years of industry experience and holds numerous current certifications, including Certified Internal Auditor, Certified Information Systems Auditor, Certified Fraud Examiner and Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer. He is required to sign an oath annually regarding his responsibility to perform his duties honestly and independently, and he  reports directly to the Audit Committee of the Board of Trustees. Mr. Tzoumas operates as an independent authority to conduct audits and investigations, and his work is well-regarded by both the Board of Governors and the Florida Auditor General.

These dishonest attacks that continue to be prominently featured on a regular basis in the Herald Tribune are, with all due respect,absurd. While Tuesday’s is among the most egregious yet, there have been countless others.

A column in May accused the College of not adequately taking feedback in its ongoing Master Plan revision process. The truth is numerous methods and opportunities for the public to comment in person or electronically have been provided, and that feedback has shaped the continuing work on the plan.

Just last month, a writer referred to New College as “a campus that has all white administrators – most of them male.” This accusation fails to pass muster at a school where there are female executives in numerous top roles. In addition to the chief of staff and vice president for finance and administration, you can find women leading in the NCF Foundation, student affairs, accounting, facilities management, human resources, and other important facets of the College. And no, not all of them are white.

Of course, who can forget the time an opinion piece insisted the Mighty Banyan was a racist mascot? Our banyan trees are mighty and majestic, clearly a hallmark of our beautiful campus. The idea that recognizing these icons in the form of a mascot is somehow racist deserves zero further comment.

Even the news section can’t be counted on for a balanced assessment of New College, as evidenced by the recent article about U.S. News Rankings. An assessment of those rankings over the last 10-15 years shows New College has moved up and down numerous times, as one might expect with rankings that have changing formulaic structures year-to-year and lagging data sets that go back as far as 2014 in some categories. The rapid improvements in enrollment and retention New College is currently experiencing won’t factor into these rankings for several more years. Unsurprisingly, there was no mention in the story of New College being designated a “Best Value College” by The Princeton Review or a “great option for higher education” by the Heritage Foundation. 

If you want to see the real New College, where enrollment is growing, scholars are enthusiastically seeking to join our faculty, and the campus is more beautiful than ever before, please come and pay us a visit.