Christopher Rufo

They gathered before Tuesday's board meeting. Later, board members voted to fire university president Patricia Okker and agreed to enter discussions with DeSantis ally and former Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran to serve as interim president.

New conservative board members Christopher Rufo and Eddie Speir got a mixed reaction during their campus visit Wednesday.

Florida GOP Chair and Sarasota state Sen. Joe Gruters said DeSantis' selection of six conservative members to the school's board was "not a takeover," but a "bridge to save New College.”

The smallest school in Florida’s university system, New College of Florida has about 700 students and lists one of its core values as building a “just, diverse, equitable and inclusive community” on campus.

With the picks DeSantis makes an imprint on the board at the liberal-arts college in his stated quest to target “trendy ideology” in higher education.