First They Came for My College

First They Came For My College tells the inside story of the right-wing campaign to “reconquer” higher education in America. On January 6, 2023, six ultraconservatives including activist Christopher Rufo and Project 2025 architect Matthew Spalding are appointed to New College of Florida’s Board of Trustees. The beloved public honors college becomes the first in the nation transformed by political takeover, a blueprint for unprecedented censorship and interference in academia. But conquering a school is not the same as running it. Embedded with the student newspaper, a defiant professor, and students from across the political spectrum, this verité documentary captures the community’s fierce resistance as they expose the new administration’s cruelty and incompetence, all while warning the nation: your school is next. A microcosm of America’s culture wars, the film asks whether an institution can survive when politics comes for the classroom.