Florida Senate - 2026                            (NP)    SR 1782
       
       
        
       By Senator Gruters
       
       
       
       
       
       22-02352-26                                           20261782__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution recognizing February 4, 2026, as “New
    3         College Day” in Florida.
    4  
    5         WHEREAS, New College of Florida is designated as the
    6  residential liberal arts honors college of this state and is the
    7  only public college or university in Florida with the sole,
    8  distinctive mission of providing a liberal arts undergraduate
    9  education of the highest caliber to its students, and
   10         WHEREAS, New College of Florida’s Logos + Techne General
   11  Education Curriculum combines classical education with next
   12  generation skills to create a culture of intellectually curious
   13  students pursuing academic excellence and seeking a better
   14  understanding of the world within an educational environment of
   15  free speech and academic freedom, and
   16         WHEREAS, the New College of Florida academic system rewards
   17  risk-taking and ambition through its individualized contract
   18  system; develops skills in independent study and initiative
   19  through tutorials, independent study projects, and a required
   20  senior thesis; and creates students who do not passively receive
   21  information, but who engage, innovate, and learn to ask the
   22  right questions, and
   23         WHEREAS, New College of Florida has solidified its status
   24  as one of the nation’s premier public liberal arts institutions,
   25  having been ranked the top public liberal arts college by
   26  Washington Monthly 3 years in a row, and the top public college
   27  for value and small size by The Princeton Review, and
   28         WHEREAS, New College of Florida continues to be recognized
   29  as a national leader in Fulbright Scholarship recipients and has
   30  been named the best Hidden Gem College in Florida by College
   31  Raptor, and the No. 1 liberal arts college in Florida for 2026
   32  and No. 10 among all public liberal arts colleges in the country
   33  by U.S. News & World Report, and
   34         WHEREAS, New College of Florida set a record in fall 2025
   35  with a total enrollment of more than 900 students for the first
   36  time in the college’s history, and
   37         WHEREAS, to support this unprecedented growth and maintain
   38  its elite academic standards, the college recruited 65 new
   39  world-class faculty members, including prestigious visiting
   40  professors and presidential scholars-in-residence, thereby
   41  ensuring the preservation of New College’s best-in-state 8-to-1
   42  student-to-faculty ratio, and
   43         WHEREAS, an independent economic impact analysis reveals
   44  that New College of Florida has become a powerful engine for
   45  regional prosperity, with an economic impact of more than $200
   46  million per year, and
   47         WHEREAS, New College of Florida’s acceptance into the
   48  National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics as a full
   49  member of the Sun Conference launched an athletics program that
   50  has quickly grown to 24 sports, and
   51         WHEREAS, New College of Florida pursues the simple belief
   52  of teaching students how to think, not what to think, and in an
   53  age of rapid technological change, global competition, and
   54  information overload, New College knows students’ ability to
   55  reason, question, write, and analyze is relevant and essential,
   56  NOW, THEREFORE,
   57  
   58  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   59  
   60         That February 4, 2026, is designated as “New College Day”
   61  in Florida in recognition of New College of Florida’s
   62  contributions as Florida’s residential honors college and an
   63  outstanding institution of higher education.