Nestled between Sarasota Bay and the Tamiami Trail, the small campus once dubbed “Barefoot U” has been a progressive enclave in a conservative county for 60 years. New College of Florida has clung to its identity since its founding at the peak of the counterculture movement. Now, the 110-acre liberal arts school with fewer than 700 students finds itself in the national spotlight, thrust into the culture wars after Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the appointment of six noted conservatives to its board of trustees on Jan. 6. The new members include Matthew Spalding, a former vice president of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington, D.C., think tank; professors and right-leaning…