First-Class Times: Writing about New College's Charter Classes

"The best education," the admissions brochure declared, "is the confrontation of two first-class minds." Attracted by that vision-and the prospect of a college education in the Florida sun with no grades or required classes-dozens of carefully selected high school seniors turned down more conventional schools, and headed for an untested educational experiment on the shores of Sarasota Bay. This is the story of New College's early years, told by those who were there.