Florida college trashed hundreds of books — including many focusing on LGBTQ and race issues

Progressive state college has been at center of Governor Ron DeSantis’s campaign against diversity and inclusion programs in higher ed

Hundreds of books, including scores about LGBTQ+ issues, race and activism, were left in a dumpster and parking lot of a public Florida university on Thursday, angering members of the academic community.

Photos and videos show hundreds of books in dumpsters. The university claimed it was part of routine maintenance, but in the past students had the chance to purchase books being taken out of circulation.

The titlesin the trash included When I Knew, a collection of stories from LGBTQ+ people, and Finding the Movement, about second-wave feminism, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported.

The scene comes as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s continues his campaign to change New College of Florida, a state college with a reputation for being progressive. DeSantis has also signed legisation that targets certain books in school libraries.

New College of Florida students, activists and alumni pick through discarded books from the school’s Gender and Diversity Center in Sarasota, Florida (via REUTERS)

Amy Reid, a faculty chair and representative to the board of trustees, told the paper she was blindsided by the mass disposal of books, and compared it to throwing away democracy. She said she wanted a period of mourning for the lost materials.

“I want to do that for books, because books are what matter,” she said.

The books were disposed of about a week before most students arrive on campus for move-in day and the start of the fall semester.

A spokesperson for New College wrote in a statement that the books came from two separate processes: part of the regular maintenance of its collections and from the disposal of specific titles connected to a shuttered gender studies program that previously went unclaimed.

The school stated the books in the latter category were “later claimed by individuals planning to donate the books locally,” and disputed media reports framing the situation as a mass erasure of LGBTQ+ books.

Last August, following the appointment of scores of conservative trustees to the college’s board, New College abolished its gender studies program, thanks to a motion from board member Christopher Rufo, a conservative activist who turned issues like purported “critical race theory” and “groomers” into central concerns of the GOP.

The college has also dismantled its office of diversity and equity, and must comply with a recently signed state law forbidding state-funded schools that “promote or engage in political or social activism” and offer courses “based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States.” 

“It felt very much like New College was a little bubble in Florida,” environmental studies major Willem Aspinall, 19, told The Associated Press earlier this year. “Now it feels like that has kind of been burst.”

As governor, DeSantis backed laws ostensibly seeking to remove books from school libraries that contained “pornography and prohibited materials harmful to minors,” policies that often had the effect of targeting books on LGBTQ+ people, race, and other themes conservatives deemed objectionable or inappropriate for children.