Pablo Torre Finds Out

Episode: The 'Baseball Bomb' Falling on a School Near You

Date: January 9, 2024
Host: Pablo Torre
Guests/Correspondents: Journalist Jeb Lund, former Morehouse pitcher/Congressman Cedric Richmond, New College student leaders and faculty

Overview

This episode explores how Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has used athletics—specifically baseball—to radically reshape New College of Florida, a quirky, progressive public liberal arts school, as a blueprint for culture war interventions in higher education. The discussion unveils a deliberate effort to transform New College's demographics and ideology by flooding it with conservative-leaning student athletes, particularly baseball players, challenging the educational mission and tradition of the school.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why DeSantis and Baseball?

• Pablo's Premise (00:45):
  The episode starts by questioning why Ron DeSantis, a known baseball aficionado and former Yale baseball captain, is at the center of a sports podcast episode, clarifying that it's not about his athletic prowess but the use of baseball as a political weapon.
• Baseball Guy Bonafides (01:16–02:11):
  DeSantis’s athletic past is established via an audio clip and anecdotes, revealing his personal brand as a “man of the people” and a jock outsider, despite Ivy League credentials.

2. Baseball and Political Image

• DeSantis the "Baseball Guy" (02:11–03:56):
  The infamous 2013 Congressional Baseball Game is discussed, with Cedric Richmond describing DeSantis’s on-field performance and suggesting he faked an injury when bested by a female Democratic congresswoman.
  • Quote:
    “His ego was certainly hurt by the way that Linda just scooped up his ground ball, threw it to first, and ended the game and all of the noise of the great baseball Ron DeSantis.” — Cedric Richmond (03:56)

3. New College: A Unique Target (07:14–12:28)

• Jeb Lund Describes New College (07:14–11:15):
  Former student Jeb Lund paints New College as a non-traditional, intellectual hub with unusual admissions and tutorial systems, highlighting its history of academic excellence and “bookish” culture.
• Under Threat:
  Enrollment declines and claimed “political window dressing” set the stage for DeSantis’s intervention.

4. The Mechanism of the Overhaul (12:28–16:50)

• DeSantis’ Power Move (12:28–13:35):
  As governor, DeSantis replaced the school's Board of Trustees with political allies, including Richard Corcoran as president—at a $1.3 million salary, far higher than presidents of much larger universities.
• Administrative Purge:
  Dismantling of diversity and inclusion programs, firing of faculty/president, and mass departures of existing instructors.

5. Demographic "Correction" and Athlete Recruitment

• Baseball/Athelete Bomb (15:27–16:27):
  The goal: reshape the student body with athletes (overwhelmingly male, often recruited from Christian schools) to counter perceived “wokeness.”
  • Quote:
    “I think there's a perception that you can demographically kind of bomb the school with a whole bunch of people who are on the other side of the ideological fence.” — Jeb Lund (16:27)
• Extraordinary Numbers (24:39–25:03):
  Of 338 new students, 153 are athletes; 73 are baseball players—more than double a typical college baseball roster.

6. Inside the Athletics-Focused Admissions Strategy

• SEAL Team 6 Metaphor (17:22–18:47):
  Former admissions officer describes Corcoran’s demand for aggressive athlete admissions, with cash bonuses for hitting numerical enrollment targets.
  • Quote:
    “If we hit that 300 number, which we've never reached before, everybody gets 5k bonus.” — Dan Dupre, former admissions (17:55)
• Dropping Academic Standards (23:20–24:35):
  Multiple accounts allege that the admissions team was told to ignore weak applications ("If it’s gray, let it play") and accept student essays that were barely coherent, provided the applicants played sports and/or fit the preferred religious profile.

7. Overwhelming Cultural Shift

• Cultural & Religious Realignment (27:33–28:12):
  New coaches, mostly from religious schools, are charged with recruiting students who fit “our core values”—coded reference for conservative and Christian backgrounds.
  • Quote:
    “Our top priority right now is recruiting coaches and players who line up with our core values.” — Mariano Jimenez, Athletic Director (27:18)

8. Impact on Campus Life & Faculty

• Faculty and Student Fallout (34:41–35:52):
  A third of the faculty leaves; non-athlete students are pushed to inferior housing, while athletes get premium accommodations.
• Segregated Campus Dynamics:
  Attempts at unity via events fail to integrate the two student groups.
• Professors Speak Out (37:32–39:15):
  Amy Reid (French/Gender Studies) recounts abrupt termination of the gender studies program and details disproportionate investment in men’s sports—potentially a Title IX violation.
  • Quote:
    “Their motivation for what they've done is deeply misogynistic… to rebalance the hormones and the politics on campus.” — Amy Reid (39:15)

9. National Blueprint and the Threat to Academic Freedom

• Exportable Model (41:09–41:47):
  The Florida experiment is already being copied in other states as a model for right-wing intervention in higher education.
• The "Freedom" Rhetoric vs. Reality (41:47–43:47):
  Despite DeSantis’s repeated invoking of “academic freedom,” guests argue the reality is forced ideological conformity and suppression of dissent.
  • Quote:
    “What’s troubling about the DeSantis blueprint… is that authoritarian impulse that can be applied to any school in the United States where the governor has the ability to remove the trustees and change the character of a public institution.” — Jeb Lund (43:47)

10. Irony and the Baseball Team’s Future

• No Baseball Field (44:46–45:16):
  Despite recruiting 73 baseball players, New College lacks a functioning baseball field or promised facilities.
  • Quote:
    “If your team doesn’t have a baseball field, probably at a competitive strategic disadvantage.” — Pablo Torre (45:16)
• Narrative Irony:
  The underdog narrative of the new baseball team collides with the political motivations behind its creation.

11. Broader Implications & Harvard Parallel

• Pablo’s Reflection (47:04–end):
  The episode closes with Pablo connecting the New College story to the broader right-wing attacks on universities, referencing similar strategies in the campaign to oust Harvard’s first Black woman president and warning that “education is now the biggest front in the culture war.”

Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• “His ego was certainly hurt by the way that Linda just scooped up his ground ball, threw it to first, and ended all of the noise of the great baseball Ron DeSantis.” — Cedric Richmond (03:56)
• “I think there's a perception that you can demographically kind of bomb the school with a whole bunch of people who are on the other side of the ideological fence.” — Jeb Lund (16:27)
• “If we hit that 300 number…everybody gets 5k bonus.” — Dan Dupre (17:55)
• “If it’s gray, go for it.” — Dan Dupre quoting Corcoran (21:47)
• “Our top priority right now is recruiting coaches and players who line up with our core values.” — Mariano Jimenez, in internal communications (27:18)
• “Their motivation…is deeply misogynistic. They created an athletic program that is skewed towards male athletes because they felt like there were too many women on the faculty and amongst the student body.” — Amy Reid (39:15)
• “What’s troubling about the DeSantis blueprint…is that authoritarian impulse that can be applied to any school in the United States where the governor has the ability to remove the trustees and change the character of a public institution.” — Jeb Lund (43:47)
• “If your team doesn’t have a baseball field, probably at a competitive strategic disadvantage.” — Pablo Torre (45:16)

Important Segments & Timestamps

• Why a DeSantis episode? — 00:38–01:47
• Cedric Richmond’s baseball game story — 02:48–04:45
• Jeb Lund on New College’s legacy — 07:14–11:15
• DeSantis’s board/president appointment — 12:28–13:56
• Athlete-driven admissions: “SEAL Team 6” — 17:08–18:47
• Internal quotas and admissions standards drop — 23:20–24:35
• Radical shift in enrollment: numbers breakdown — 24:39–25:29
• Athletic director’s “core values” communications — 27:08–27:33
• Housing divide, campus cultural shift — 34:41–36:40
• Faculty perspectives, gender studies cut — 37:32–39:15
• Blueprint for other states, academic freedom violated — 41:09–43:47
• Baseball team logistics (no field) — 44:46–45:16
• Pablo connects it to Harvard and the national stakes — 47:04–end

Tone & Style

• Tone: Witty, investigative, sometimes incredulous, with a mix of humor and serious alarm.
• Style: Pablo and his correspondents blend incisive reporting with sarcasm, deadpan jokes, and exasperation at the absurdity of the situation (“this tree has been doing a lot of steroids…” about the new mascot).

Summary

Pablo Torre lays bare the calculated—and at times bumbling—political operation that has transformed New College of Florida through mass recruitment of Christian student athletes, all while eroding longstanding educational freedoms and academic excellence. This “baseball bomb” is both a literal demographic shift and a test case for exporting right-wing ideological takeovers to public universities nationwide.

For listeners unfamiliar with the story, this episode is a wake-up call on how sports, enrollment policies, and campus culture wars are being weaponized to remake American higher education from the top down.