DeSantis announces Kirk scholarship, Turning Point high-school partnership and multimillion-dollar civic grants at New College event

At an event at New College of Florida in Sarasota, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a set of civics and debate initiatives that state officials say will expand classroom civics instruction, fund university civic programs and award scholarships to top high-school debaters.

DeSantis said the 2026 Florida speech-and-debate championship, scheduled for April 5, 2026, at New College, will include a "Kirk prize" in memory of Charlie Kirk and will offer scholarships paid by private donations and Florida Prepaid: $50,000 for the champion, $25,000 for the runner-up, $15,000 for each semifinalist and $10,000 for the remaining quarterfinalists. "We're proud to be able to award the winner of the Kirk prize a $50,000 scholarship," DeSantis said.

The scholarships and a larger civics push are tied to other announcements at the event: a stated partnership with Turning Point USA to facilitate Club America chapters at any Florida high school that wishes to form one, and a package of U.S. Department of Education grants the governor listed as supporting America 250 civic programs at multiple universities.

DeSantis described steps the state has taken to strengthen civics instruction, including a "civic seal of excellence" course for teachers (50 hours with a $3,000 bonus) and an expansion of speech-and-debate programs so that every county in Florida now has teams. He framed the measures as part of a broader push to "make sure teachers are armed" with grounding in the Constitution and founding-era debates.

On classroom policy, DeSantis noted one specific state rule: "We were the first state, no cell phones in the classroom," and linked that policy to efforts to improve student attention and teacher recruitment. He also warned about the risks he associates with widespread classroom use of artificial-intelligence tools, urging students and teachers to preserve critical thinking skills: "garbage in the dataset, garbage out."

Education Commissioner Stasi Kamoutsis described the civics-and-debate initiative as practical training in civic dialogue and said the awards and grants are intended to incentivize students to participate. Kamoutsis also said the state will act against school officials who try to block Club America chapters: "If you try to serve as an obstacle, if you are on hurdle, if you get in the way of any student or teacher trying to start a Turning Point USA chapter, you will be met with the full force of the law," she said.

DeSantis listed U.S. Department of Education awards he said support America 250 activities: $4.7 million to Florida State University for an Institute for Governance and Civics; $2.3 million to Florida International University for the Adam Smith Center for Economic Freedom; $2.1 million to the University of North Florida to fund civics professional development for ninth-through-12th-grade teachers in Duval County; and $1.8 million to New College for a project described as "Invigorating Liberty and Self-Governance: First Principles for 21st-Century America." He also said the University of West Florida would convert a summer institute into a full-time civic center with federal support.

New College President Richard Corcoran said the campus will host the state championship and unveiled plans for a Charlie Kirk statue on the quad meant as a public prompt for debate and a reminder of free speech. Corcoran described the proposed statue as a seated Kirk with a microphone and an empty microphone across from it so any student can step up and engage.

DeSantis and other speakers repeatedly linked the announcements to efforts to promote "civil discourse, academic freedom and free speech," and framed the scholarship, statue and grants as part of broader preparations for the nation—s 250th anniversary. DeSantis said private donations and state programs will underwrite the scholarships; officials said the scholarships can be used with state Prepaid plans and that unused undergraduate awards could be applied toward graduate study under the program rules described at the event.

What officials announced at New College were policy and program decisions, not formal board votes. The event combined public remarks by Turning Point, the governor, the lieutenant governor, the education commissioner and New College leadership presenting the new awards, partnerships, federal grants and campus plans.

The announcements contain specific implementation steps and amounts but left some operational details unspecified at the event, such as the formal legal mechanisms for enforcing Club America access in school districts and the precise contractual terms for the statue acquisition and site preparation. DeSantis and state officials said more details and additional announcements on "America February" will follow.