Shelley Fite, 1997-2002

Hi–I’m Shelley Fite, a 2002 New College graduate. (Started New College in 1997, defended thesis (religion, with Mike Michalson as my sponsor) in January 2002.) I worked in politics for a bit, then went to law school at the University of Wisconsin, and I’ve been a public defender of one kind or another (state and/or federal) since 2008–all in Madison, Wisconsin. I’m originally from Bay County, Florida, but I followed a boy to Wisconsin and we’ve been married for a long time and we have a couple of teenage kids and a scruffy dog.

I have never been involved in New College alumni stuff other than to go to a few potlucks for Madison alums back in the 2000s. I’ve visited campus a few times over the years when visiting my parents, who now live in St. Pete. And I’ve followed the New College news in recent years and, probably like everyone, I’m pretty broken up that the college I knew doesn’t really exist anymore. I don’t think the NCAA can do anything that would actually reverse course for the school, but my kids are older and my job is remote, so I have time to give and I’d like to join the NCAA to do my part to keep the spirit of New College alive, at least among alums.

Thanks,
Shelley

Jerald Lentini, 2003-2007

Fellow Novos:

A month ago, I had no plans to seek this seat. Then some miserable jerks tried to take away our ability to speak for the thousands who once looked at New College and thought, even for a semester, “that looks like the place for me.” Now I find myself here, asking for your support to fight back.

My agenda is simple: sue the bastards. 

I’m no stranger to taking the Foundation to court, having already sued to force them to resume issuing the DEI scholarship my family endowed. I’m ready to do it again in support of the NCAA’s right to exist. Doing so will require fundraising, overseeing counsel, raising public awareness and pressure, and generally being a pain in Richard Corcoran’s ass. I can do all of those, and look forward to doing so, especially that last one. 

The NCAA Board should be a cross-section of alumni, bringing a broad range of skills and knowledge to the table. In this moment, for this fight, I’m happy to lend mine. Since graduating New in 2007, I went to law school, worked a few dozen political campaigns, earned an MBA, won election to office twice, got appointed to the Connecticut Lottery Commission, sued Donald Trump and Elon Musk, and now proudly work as a civil rights lawyer. With my background, I believe I can be especially helpful to the NCAA in this next phase of the resistance.

Thank you for your consideration, and I hope you’ll give me the chance to put my litigious nature and boundless spite to good use. 

In Solidarity,
Jerald Lentini

Dylan Niner, 2023-2025

I enrolled at New College in spring 2023, the semester the board removed President Okker, and graduated in May 2025.

I’ll be direct about what I am and am not. I’m young, and I haven’t led an organization like this before. What I have is two years of learning, first hand and under pressure, how to fight for a place without burning bridges or burning out.

I worked with administrators where it produced results and opposed them where it didn’t or where I couldn’t in good conscience. And where I dug in, I stayed dug in. I’m still fighting for the green spaces on campus, more than a year after graduating.

I’m not going to stand here and promise programs. The road ahead is long, and I’d rather earn your trust by listening to your wisdom and being honest than by listing things I can’t yet deliver. What I can tell you is that I care about this fiercely, I’m not tired yet, and I intend to still be doing this in twenty years.

If that’s what you’re looking for, I’d be grateful for your vote.

Dylan Niner  
Class of 2025
Four Winds Forever 

Daniel J. O’Brien, 1988-2000

I am honored to be a candidate for Director at Large for the New College Alumni Association. I have always been passionate about New College’s mission and the principle that, in the final analysis, each student is responsible for their own education.

You might have known me during my years as a student as “Dano,” “Doober,” “the guy with the yellow truck” or “the guy with no teeth.” During my years at New College, I was incidentally involved with student government, in particular boards such as NCSA and SASC; I was also active with NCLF.

I currently reside in Nederland, Colorado, a small town 15 miles and 3000 vertical feet from Boulder. I have worked for the past twenty years as a barista in food service along the Front Range (the greater Denver Metro area) – in grocery stores, in trains, in casinos, and in motels. Before that, I worked for the State of Florida (FWCC) until the 2008 recession, whereupon I spent several years as a security guard in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. I currently work for Sur La Table, culinary instructors.

I probably rank among the top one percent of graduates in terms of contracts attempted, and I know many famous and infamous alumni. I’m a veteran of state and 501c.3 organizations’ administrations – have been both a Federal grants coordinator and staff supervisor. I have honed an understanding of organizational function for both bureaucracies and businesses. In terms of student life activities, etc.- there are a number of wall tapes out there with my name on them.

Years of therapy have developed my skills as an effective communicator through active listening and affective empathy. The following stories from the last century illustrate my commitment to the unique educational flavour that is New College. However, I would beg the voters’ consideration that my tone has become much more conciliatory as a byproduct of years accumulated on this planet.

As the week-end food service manager my first year, I handled the daily books for the cafeteria on Saturday and Sunday. The final weekend, the cafeteria was sorely understocked and understaffed. There were also thousands of dollars of unclaimed “food points” floating around in the community. I thought this was rather unfair, as Daka – the food service provider – left a large amount of “food point” currency unusable to the average student. So, I ran the kitchen as a “pay-what-you-can” service that weekend. The de facto receipts were five times the amount of any prior weekend; but, I’m quite sure that there were no more Tofutti Cuties left in the cooler that Sunday when the foodservice closed

In my final year, I assembled with my fellow graduating students and joined the throng of twenty-somethings as one of a handful of people who had seen three decades. When it came time to shake hands with the University of South Florida (USF) President, Tom Tighe, I flashed him a peace sign from across the stage and exited, leaving him wondering what kind of fool would disrespect a fellow suffering the Florida sun in a nice suit. On balance, I felt that was an effective way of displaying my belief that USF had very little to do with my crossing the stage. I felt allegiances to the staff and student body in Sarasota, but I was unwilling to foster the charade that USF had overseen my education. Close to a dozen fellow graduates subsequently forwent the handshake, further confusing Mr. Tighe. It would be egregious to pretend these actions had anything to do with the separation of New College from USF the following year, but Ican’t think of a better way to say good-bye to an organization I reluctantly had an affiliation with.

If elected, my primary goals are to:

• Stem the bloodletting of politically motivated psychological warfare on the left,
• Build a coalition of sincere academics who can weather political vageries,
• Work earnestly to ensure that the guiding principles of New College’s original mission statement are adhered to, and
• Promote a safe environment for bright, quirky young people to come and pursue a higher education.

I believe that by focusing on these issues, we can work with the existing administration to improve the metrics used by the Board of Trustees to measure the performance of Florida’s educational investment in the future of its citizenry. Please consider voting for me, even if you usually ignore your alumni board activities. I promise to be grateful for the opportunity to remove the tarnish from the New College seal.

Heather Rasley, 2002-2006

I’m Heather Rasley and I attended New College from 2002-2006, graduating as a Humanities major. I’ve moved around quite a bit since then, but I’m now living in Seattle with my second-grader and two adorable cats.

New College was a deeply meaningful space and community for me, and it was heartbreaking to see its hostile takeover. I’d like to do whatever I can to help the New College community stay true to the original 1960s vision of our beloved school. New College would not be itself without its special blend of academic brilliance and bold, eccentric free expression. 

While at New College, I served on the SAC and the staff of The Catalyst. I contributed to literary magazines and founded my own. (Don’t worry, I also spent hours dancing in Palm Court, too.) 

For the past 18 years, I’ve been working in tech, helping people navigate and safely use the online products in their lives. Locally, I formed and lead a Parent Affinity Group for parents of special needs children at my daughter’s school. I’m also becoming more active in our local Unitarian Universalist church.

I believe my experience leading teams and guiding others can be helpful on the NCAA Board. I’d love to take on this responsibility and be a force for good as we navigate this difficult time in our history.