In a way, the documentary "First They Came for My College" is the story of a garden. In early scenes, we see students lovingly tending New College of Florida's campus garden, full of local flora and edible plants that are freely available to everyone. More experienced students show newer ones the ropes, passing on the lessons they have received from their predecessors. As New College undergoes a "hostile takeover" by right-wing political leaders, the garden remains a place of refuge and a source of community. Student gardeners continue to bring in new trainees and even give New College's new leadership a tour. It's a moment of hopefulness, but it doesn't last. While the school is evacuated for a hurricane, the garden is destroyed-much of it, apparently, by human hands. As the film makes clear, it's one thing to know the facts of how right-wing political activists are attacking higher education, but it's another thing to see its brutality, and still another thing to fight through it firsthand. "You're in a historic moment," professor Maria D. Vesperi tells her journalism class in one scene. "It's not a great moment, but you're playing a role in it."

On Sept. 27, the AFT's Higher Education division hosted a New York City screening and panel discussion of "First They Came for My College" for AFT and AAUP members and their guests. The documentary follows a group of New College students, faculty and community activists fighting the school's takeover. Created by a team that includes students and alumni, the film details what would become the second Trump administration's blueprint for continuing attacks on higher education.

The screening and discussion, co-sponsored by the Professional Staff Congress of the City University of New York, were part of the AFT's national campaign to defend higher education and our democracy, "Higher Education: Saving Lives, Building Futures, Powering the Economy." The campaign focuses on students' right to learn in environments that are open, inclusive and free from political interference; a free public college education and affordable access to private institutions; ensuring that university faculty and staff have the final say on teaching practices and research priorities; and providing collective bargaining rights for all faculty and staff at public colleges. Each of these pillars has come under attack in the takeover of New College, and the film offers a powerful depiction of what's at stake on the campuses of our colleges and universities and in the coming midterm elections-and why we need to use our voice and our vote now to make sure we have a role in shaping our future.

"First They Came for My College" covers events over two years, beginning with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' Jan. 6, 2023, appointment of seven new members to New College's board of trustees-including notorious enemy of public education Christopher Rufo. The new board quickly set about dismantling New College from the top down. Then-president Patricia Okker was fired and replaced by an interim president, DeSantis loyalist Richard Corcoran. (Read Okker's story in her own words in the Summer 2024 issue of American Educator.) The board also destabilized established processes like tenure review, shuttered the gender studies department and other "woke" programs, forced students out of on-campus housing to make room for new sports teams and even replaced the school's beloved mascot, all without consulting students or faculty. Students who had come to Florida's renowned public honors college for its academic rigor and environment of "radical acceptance" found themselves on the frontlines of a battle to preserve those very values.

The film intercuts footage from archival and media sources with footage taken by the students and filmmakers. In one of the more devastating moments, we see Corcoran's statement to the press about evacuating the campus in advance of Hurricane Milton in October 2024 contrasted with students' and faculty members' horror at returning to campus and seeing what the administration had been up to while they were gone: dumpsters full of books by Black, Native, queer and female authors purged from the library and the fruit trees and plants of the beloved community garden sawed down to stumps.

But the film isn't all pain; it's also power. We see DeSantis and his allies mocking protestors during the on-campus signing ceremony for HB 999, a law aimed at stifling academic freedom in Florida, and railroading anti-diversity, equity and inclusion policies through in board meeting after board meeting, but we also see how students and faculty are learning and teaching through the crisis. Students continue to have thoughtful and passionate discussions to identify shared values as they figure out how to support each other, organize against the takeover and report the truth, and rebuild the garden. And through it all, faculty members like Vesperi are by their sides, protesting with them in board meetings and helping them navigate the terrain as it continues to shift under their feet.

Vesperi participated in the Q&A after the screening, along with associate producer, cameraperson and student protagonist (now alumna) Lindsey Bliss Jennings and New College alumnus, producer and camera operator Harry William Hanbury. The discussion was facilitated by James Davis, president of PSC.

All three participants reflected on the experience of rewatching the film and on what has happened in the months since the film ended. Jennings described it as "cathartic" to see how their painful experiences could be distilled into a powerful story that may also help others turn their grief into action. Vesperi agreed that it was "very emotional" to revisit but that she treasured her years of engaging with Florida's best and brightest students at New College. "The joy and pride I felt … in making this kind of education accessible at a public school-it was there every day," she said. For Hanbury, the film captures the "ruthlessness" he continues to see in attacks on higher education and as we approach the midterm elections. The others agreed. "They were open about us being a testing ground," Jennings said. "At every single screening, someone comes up saying, 'This is happening at my school now.'"

At the same time, there are clear lessons other schools can learn from the students and faculty at New College-especially, as Davis pointed out, from their resilience and their insistence on joy. "New College was the first college [to be targeted], and the fact that it didn't crumble overnight is very important and powerful," Hanbury said. In spite of attempts to suppress academic freedom and stifle New College's queer community, there is still an active LGBTQ+ club on campus, and students are still graduating with the Peggy Bates Medal for theses in gender studies. While many faculty and students have left, there is still a "kernel" of people who stayed and are trying to maintain their values. "That kind of resistance at New College should inspire other schools. You have more warning," Hanbury said.

Vesperi praised the students and graduates who continue to uphold the values of academic freedom and excellence and noted the many students who are taking those values out into their careers in journalism and with allied organizations like PEN America. They had "real world experience," and they're now using it in powerful ways-including launching a nonprofit, Old School Catalyst, to support aspiring journalists in holding the powerful to account. She also encouraged faculty members to join their union and use their collective voice to protect students and academic freedom. "Don't take faculty governance for granted. Don't take your union for granted. And don't take the ability to engage your students in discussion about what's happening for granted. … Preemptive compliance is the worst, most corrosive thing you can do."

To connect with others who are organizing and mobilizing for higher education as the midterm elections approach, take the Democracy Defender pledge. To bring "First They Came for My College" to your campus or local theater, fill out the request form here.

[Sharone Carmona/Photo credit: Patrick Bresnan]