What's Up With That?: Why is New College Named New College?

One of the best colleges in the state of Florida is located right here in Sarasota. just celebrated its 50th anniversary this month, but we were wondering, why is New College called New College?

Linda Joffe, associate director of public affairs at New College, wrote:

"In 1960, Howard E. Spragg -- a leader of the Congregational Christian Church/ Board of Home Missions who had led the church team to explore helping to fund a college in Sarasota -- proposed the formation of a “New College Council” to be responsible for hiring and paying for a firm to manage the fund-raising campaign. This may have been the first use of the New College name, for which Spragg took full credit, saying later that he used it because of his familiarity with New College in Edinburgh, Scotland

"The temporary name of new College became semi-permanent after an attorney advised Spragg that from a legal viewpoint, calling the institution “New College” rather than “The New College” was immaterial.  Soon the college committee began to be referred to as the New College committee.

"Incorporation papers for New College were filed without fanfare at the state capital in Tallahassee on October 11, 1960, and the institution came to life legally as New College.  

"In 1963, Philip Hiss, chair of the Board of Trustees, reinforced the name when he wrote 'New College…is a totally new institution. We have no difficult-to-overcome tradition, no faculty cliques, no entrenched alumni….we have stated categorically that New College will be based on excellence: excellence of environment, excellence of curriculum, excellence of faculty, and excellence of student body.  Most new institutions, and almost all old ones, claim the same thing but the majority quickly prove in their actions that they do not mean it.'

"A vision of the college emerged: innovative in its calendar; only the best faculty and students would be sought; and those faculty would encourage students to progress through the curriculum at their own pace, according to their understanding and maturity. In short: new."

"And yet, we still believe that “new” is appropriate for one of the most innovative college in America," Joffee told Sarasota Patch.  "There are no plans to change the name."

Is there something else around Sarasota that makes you wonder, "What's Up With That?" Post your question in the Q&A section of our site, and Sarasota Patch and members of the community will do their best to come up with an answer.