FIRST THEY CAME FOR MY COLLEGE
(The 2026 SXSW Film Festival runs March 12-18 in beautiful Austin, TX. Check out Chris Reed’s First They Came for My College movie review, fresh from the fest. Seen it? Join the conversation with HtN on our Letterboxd Page.)
Most people are familiar with at least some of the lines from German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller’s famous 1946 poem “First They Came.” Here to remind you is the full text:
- First they came for the Communists
- And I did not speak out
- Because I was not a Communist
- Then they came for the Socialists
- And I did not speak out
- Because I was not a Socialist
- Then they came for the trade unionists
- And I did not speak out
- Because I was not a trade unionist
- Then they came for the Jews
- And I did not speak out
- Because I was not a Jew
- Then they came for me
- And there was no one left
- To speak out for me.
Director Patrick Bresnan (Naked Gardens) repurposes Niemröller’s signature line in the title of his latest documentary, First They Came for My College, which tells the sad tale of what happened to the New College of Florida. Founded in 1960, the institution was, until 2023, a respected liberal arts honors college in Sarasota where a diverse student body studied a range of subjects in a safe environment by the sea. No good things last forever, however. Enter one Ron DeSantis.
The current governor of Florida decided to declare war on “woke” (whatever that means) and appointed a conservative majority to the college’s board (since it is part of Florida’s state university system, he can do that). Leading that new cohort was right-wing activist Christopher Rufo, who quickly moved to fire President Patricia Okker and install Richard Corcoran, the state’s former education commissioner and a friend of DeSantis, in her place. From there, things moved quickly,
Bresnan follows the rapid pace of change from the eyes of students and faculty, some of whom leave. The student-senate president, Catherine “Libby” Harrity, is more or less forced to go after battery charges are levied against her by Rufo for allegedly spitting at him. She heads off to the more welcoming campus of Hampshire College, in Massachusetts. Rufo, it should be noted, as least as we see here, mostly attends board meetings merely virtually. Bravery and resilience run deep in his veins, it seems.
One faculty member who steps up to fill a newly vacated faculty board position is the Gender Studies program director Amy Reid (in the interest of full disclosure, we went to graduate school together, though I have not seen her in over 30 years). Fortunately for the remaining students and faculty, she is a passionate advocate for retaining New College’s tradition of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Unfortunately for her, this puts a target on her back.
The entire plan of attack is to recruit a new generation of students who will study “Western values” and play sports. Neither of those are bad, in and of themselves, but a meaningful education should include the broadest possible range of beliefs. The political right’s obsession that open-mindedness equals oppression leads them to create oppression by omission and repression. The fact that, suddenly, LGBTQ+ students find themselves harassed on campus is not by accident.
Similar battles are happening across the land. Such is our current moment. Take heart from the example of Josh, one of the new students profiled in the movie, who begins as a staunch conservative and yet, after a year spent in the company of artistically minded peers, finds a better version of himself. Everyone has the potential to be creative and kind, but it looks we are in an era where we have to fight for that right. First they came for the college. Tomorrow they’ll come for you.
– Christopher Llewellyn Reed (@ChrisReedFilm)
