Oases of Excellence are outstanding programs at colleges and universities across the country that are dedicated to educating students for informed citizenship in a free society by maintaining the highest academic standards, introducing students to the best of the foundational arts and sciences, teaching American heritage, and ensuring free inquiry into a range of intellectual viewpoints. ACTA’s Oases of Excellence network includes over 90 programs at a wide range of institutions. The network is a forum for sharing ideas and best practices for running an independent liberal arts program and serves as a valuable resource for donors who are committed to supporting academic excellence.  

The mission of the American Foundations minor is to deepen cadets’ understanding of the Constitution in alignment with West Point’s overall mission of forming leaders of character ready to serve the Army and the nation. The minor’s courses, guest speaker program, and academic enrichment experiences create an interdisciplinary community of cadets and faculty dedicated to understanding America’s Founding principles. Hugh Liebert, co-director of the minor, remarked, “We are honored to receive ACTA’s recognition as an Oasis of Excellence.”  

ASU’s Center for American Institutions is an interdisciplinary academic program dedicated to “preserving and renewing our fundamental American institutions to maintain well-ordered liberty.” The center undertakes research projects to examine the “state and health of American institutions”; offers courses centered on maintaining a constitutional republic; and holds regular lectures for the campus community and the greater Phoenix area. Professor Donald Critchlow, director of the center, stated, “ACTA’s recognition of CAI’s mission by honoring the center as an Oasis of Excellence is humbling, especially to be among the other Oases who are equally committed to restoring the promise of higher education. Dr. Michael Poliakoff and his fine team at ACTA should be commended for their pursuit of academic excellence, freedom, and accountability.”  

Oases of Excellence and the faculty who lead them are restoring the legacy of higher education, one student at a time. ACTA President Michael Poliakoff remarked, “A strong liberal arts education has become all too rare at a time when students need it the most. These centers’ efforts to prepare students for an informed and engaged life of the mind are vital for the strength of our civil society and the health of our nation.”  
   
A complete list of ACTA’s Oases of Excellence can be found here. 

MEDIA CONTACT: Gabrielle Anglin
EMAIL: ganglin@goacta.org

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The results to this statewide survey indicate a large majority of voters support the University of Texas president calling in Texas state troopers to arrest and remove students who were violating campus regulations for large gatherings.  Support (69%) for the UT president’s actions is three times greater than opposition (23%).  Furthermore, those with intense feelings are nearly four times more supportive of the president’s actions (42% strongly support) than those who are opposed (11% strongly oppose).

Support for the UT president calling in the state troopers to arrest and remove students in violations of campus regulations increases as respondent age increases and as awareness about the protests increases.  Support reaches 75% among those who have been following the news a great deal or very much about students and faculty holding protests on campuses of Texas universities.

Other survey findings:

1. Nearly seven out of ten voters (68%) believe that police officers should be brought in to respond to campus protests that violate campus regulations.

“Should police officers be brought in to respond to campus protests that violate campus regulations?”

68% Yes
17% No
15% Unsure

2. Almost three-fourths (73%) of the Texas electorate believe professional organizers of protests should be banned from the campuses of Texas public universities.

“Over half of the people arrested in protests recently at the University of Texas are not students, are not affiliated with the University of Texas, and may be professional organizers of protests. Do you believe professional organizers of protests should be banned from the campuses of Texas public universities?”

73% Yes
17% No
10% Unsure

3. Seven out of ten Texas voters believe the university president should NOT be fired for calling in the state police.

“Some professors at the University of Texas gave objected to the president of the University of Texas calling in the state police to arrest students. These professors have demanded that the President of the university be fired. Do you believe the university president should be fired for calling in the state police?

15% Yes
70% No
15% Unsure

Interviewing was conducted May 2-5, 2024, among N=602 Texas voters. The margin of error to the results of the 602 interviews is + 4.0% at the .95 confidence interval.  This survey was conducted online among panelists, and the respondents of this survey are representative of the ages, gender, race/ethnicity and partisan vote behavior of voters who participate in elections. The partisanship of the respondents in this survey was 47% Republican, 37% Democratic and 16% Independent.

ACTA President Dr. Michael Poliakoff observed, “Freedom of speech is the bedrock of American freedom and the lifeblood of teaching, learning, and research at our colleges and universities. It can only flourish when there is rule of law. In a pluralistic, democratic society, no single group, no matter how vocal and no matter for what cause, should be allowed to commandeer indefinitely for its own, the shared public square of the university campus. This is because the university serves a special civic function as the marketplace of ideas, and it is appropriate and necessary for it to have codes of conduct that regulate the use of its campus facilities toward that end. When demonstrators insist not on peaceful protest but ‘occupation’ with the intent to disrupt campus life by force, they interfere with essential functions of the university and threaten the safety and well-being of the thousands of others who share that space. In that circumstance, university leaders must act. Sound leadership prevents the awful scenes that we have witnessed at Columbia University, the University of California–Los Angeles, and elsewhere—as well as the corrosive capitulations at Brown University and Northwestern University. University of Texas–Austin President Jay Hartzell accepted the responsibility to enforce important campus rules. Going forward, all institutions should find ways to move beyond the echo chambers, the monoculture that so miseducates students by seducing them to believe that coercion and intimidation are more legitimate than engaging in dialogue and debate with those with whom they disagree.”

MEDIA CONTACT: Gabrielle Anglin
EMAIL: ganglin@goacta.org

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The Fraternity and Sorority Action Fund will host the panel, entitled “Innocent Until Proven Greek: How Academic Bureaucracies Threaten Student Civil Liberties” at 9 a.m., Thursday, April 25, 2024, at the National Press Club, 529 14th Street NW, Washington, D.C.

Registration, found at this link, is required for both the media and the public and is non-transferable. A complimentary hot breakfast is included for all registrants.

The event will be live-streamed on ACTA’s YouTube Channel.

About the Panelists

Dr. Dawn Watkins Wiese is the Chief Operating Officer of FRMT, Ltd., which provides insurance for men’s fraternal organizations. She is the founder of Plaid, an organizational and leadership consultancy. Prior to consulting, Dr. Wiese was the Vice President of Student Affairs, Dean of Students and Dean of Freshmen at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va. She also served as Associate Dean of Students and Director of Student Events and Events Planning at Guilford College in Greensboro, NC.

Dr. Steve McGuire is the Paul & Karen Levy Fellow in Campus Freedom at the American Council of Trustees and Alumni ACTA). Prior to joining ACTA, Dr. McGuire was director of the Matthew J. Ryan Center for the Study of Free Institutions and the Public Good and associate teaching professor in the Augustine and Culture Seminar Program at Villanova University. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Lethbridge, a master’s degree from the University of Saskatchewan and a PhD from The Catholic University of America, where he was a Bradley Fellow and an ISI Richard M. Weaver Fellow. He was a 2021 Claremont Institute Lincoln Fellow.

Micah Kamrass is an attorney specializing in higher education at Manley Burke, where he represents both the men’s and women’s groups suiting the University of Maryland for civil rights violations. He attended The Ohio State University for undergraduate, graduate and law school. Here, he served as the student body president representing more than 40,000 of his fellow students, as well as president of Alpha Epsilon Pi and on the group’s International Supreme Board of Governors. He earned a PhD in Higher Education Leadership and Policy from Vanderbilt University. He is also an adjunct professor teaching higher education law at the University of Louisville.

Farah Aliabadi is a sophomore at the University of Maryland studying psychology. She is the president of Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority.

Garrett Bruce is a sophomore at the University of Maryland studying finance and management. He is the president of Kappa Alpha Order and the former Chief Justice of the UMD Interfraternity Council Judiciary Board.

Follow this link to register for the event. It will be live-streamed on ACTA’s YouTube Channel if you are interested but cannot attend.

MEDIA CONTACT: Gabrielle Anglin
EMAIL: ganglin@goacta.org

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With the guidance of our Council of Scholars, ACTA has identified seven subject areas that together make up a foundational core curriculum in the liberal arts. What Will They Learn?® evaluates curricular and general educational requirements at over 1,100 U.S. colleges and universities, rating each institution’s curriculum on an “A+”–“F” scale based on whether they require students to study these essential subject areas.  

The seven subject areas are Composition, Literature, (intermediate-level) Foreign Language, U.S. Government or History, Economics, Mathematics, and Natural Science. What Will They Learn?®’s new “A+” grade identifies liberal arts institutions that require students to take courses in all seven subject areas. Out of 1,134 universities reviewed by What Will They Learn?®, only seven universities earn an “A+”. 

These seven institutions are Christopher Newport University, Patrick Henry College, Thomas Aquinas College in California, Thomas Aquinas College in Massachusetts, Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, the University of Dallas, and the University of Saint Katherine. Each of these universities stands out for its rigorous curriculum and commitment to liberal arts education. 

Our “A+” schools are models of educational quality and pedagogical integrity. These institutions deserve the consideration of academically serious students and should serve as inspiration to educators seeking to make students’ college years some of the most rewarding and transformative years of their lives.

MEDIA CONTACT: Gabrielle Anglin
EMAIL: ganglin@goacta.org

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“The Honors College at Houston Christian University shares in the university’s central confession, ‘Jesus Christ is Lord,’ by providing an integrated general education for undergraduate students willing to approach their studies with modesty and reverence. […] In small classes designed for transformative conversations, students and faculty seek truth together,” says program director Gary Hartenburg, Ph.D. “The Honors College curriculum stretches from the ancient world to the twentieth century, and students revel in its poetry, drama, history, art, philosophy, science, psychology, economics, mathematics, and theology. […] Our Honors Scholars come from all over the world and reflect the makeup of Houston as a global leader of diversity and growth. We are grateful to ACTA for recognizing the Honors College at HCU as a Hidden Gem.”

Gabriella Hsu, ACTA’s Senior Program Manager for Curricular Improvement says, “ACTA’s Hidden Gems program highlights major, minor, and certificate programs that offer students an unparalleled education in the liberal arts. Hidden Gems programs are so named for the high caliber of their faculty, thoughtfully structured curricula, and commitment both to the challenges and rewards of liberal education. Students enrolled in Hidden Gems programs are drawn into community and discussion rooted in the rich interdisciplinary study of the liberal arts and sciences. In its mission to support academic excellence, ACTA believes that the Hidden Gems program is an invaluable resource for students seeking a robust, collegial, and enriching education.”

ACTA’s Hidden Gems initiative serves as a complement to our What Will They Learn?^® (WWTL) project. WWTL rates the core curriculum requirements at over 1,100 schools to determine which institutions provide a rigorous, liberal arts-oriented general education. Programs designated as Hidden Gems offer a robust liberal arts education regardless of their home institution’s core curriculum. WWTL and Hidden Gems help prospective students locate universities and programs that will prepare them for successful careers, informed citizenship, and human flourishing.

See a comprehensive list of all Hidden Gems here.

MEDIA CONTACT: Gabrielle Anglin
EMAIL: ganglin@goacta.org

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“The PPE Program focuses on understanding how social, political, and economic institutions, as well as considerations of justice, rights, and liberty, have, do, and should interact and shape one another. At its heart is the recognition that philosophy, political science, and economics are each individually important to understanding the world in which we live—but that bringing the three disciplines together illuminates issues that otherwise are obscured by the shadows cast by relying solely on one or the other,” says Geoffrey Sayre-McCord, founding director of the PPE program. “We are proud, to say the least, to counted among ACTA’s Hidden Gems.”

Gabriella Hsu, ACTA’s Senior Program Manager for Curricular Improvement says, “ACTA’s Hidden Gems program highlights major, minor, and certificate programs that offer students an unparalleled education in the liberal arts. Hidden Gems programs are so named for the high caliber of their faculty, thoughtfully structured curricula, and commitment both to the challenges and rewards of liberal education. Students enrolled in Hidden Gems programs are drawn into community and discussion rooted in the rich interdisciplinary study of the liberal arts and sciences. In its mission to support academic excellence, ACTA believes that the Hidden Gems program is an invaluable resource for students seeking a robust, collegial, and enriching education.”

ACTA’s Hidden Gems initiative serves as a complement to our What Will They Learn?® (WWTL) project. WWTL rates the core curriculum requirements at over 1,100 schools to determine which institutions provide a rigorous, liberal arts-oriented general education. Programs designated as Hidden Gems offer a robust liberal arts education regardless of their home institution’s core curriculum. WWTL and Hidden Gems help prospective students locate universities and programs that will prepare them for successful careers, informed citizenship, and human flourishing.

See a comprehensive list of all Hidden Gems here.

MEDIA CONTACT: Gabrielle Anglin
EMAIL: ganglin@goacta.org

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Key findings from the survey include:

• Thirty-nine percent of respondents said shouting down a speaker is always or sometimes acceptable.
• Nine percent of respondents said using violence to prevent someone from speaking is always or sometimes acceptable. This number rose to 27% among students who identify as Democrats, compared to only 6% among Republicans.
• Forty-eight percent of respondents said they self-censor at least occasionally. Forty percent of Republicans said they self-censor fairly or very often, compared to only 6% of Democrats.

“These survey results show that Furman University, like so many American colleges and universities, is failing to maintain a culture of free expression and openness to viewpoint diversity,” stated Steven McGuire, ACTA’s Paul & Karen Levy Fellow in Campus Freedom. “Given the evident willingness of many Furman students to shut down views they do not like, it is not surprising that so many of their peers feel they cannot share their views on campus. The different experiences of Democratic and Republican students at Furman are especially notable. Republicans are much more likely to self-censor, which means that the whole student body is not regularly hearing the full range of views widely held by segments of the American people on various subjects.”

Furman’s leadership can take action to restore the free exchange of ideas on campus by adopting the measures outlined in ACTA’s Gold Standard for Freedom of Expression. “It is the solemn duty of governing boards to remove the barriers to free expression at their institutions, wherever those barriers are found,” remarked ACTA President Michael Poliakoff. “They must not accept evasive answers when core freedoms and values are at issue. Americans are properly impatient when they see the money they pay for college so misused that graduates emerge emotionally and intellectually unprepared for the discourse that is fundamental to civic life.”

The survey report can be found here.

MEDIA CONTACT: Gabrielle Anglin
EMAIL: ganglin@goacta.org

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Mr. Down’s testimony reads in part: “Since 1995, ACTA has worked with over 23,000 higher education trustees across the country to ensure that students receive an intellectually rich, high-quality college education at an affordable price. We believe that the strength of America’s higher education system relies on engaged governing boards that appreciate their independent role. But this bill makes one crucial change to Virginia statute that would undermine this very idea.

“Title 23 in section 1304 of the Code of Virginia makes clear that the boards of visitors’ ‘primary duty [is] to the citizens of the Commonwealth.’ Senate Bill 506 would replace this by reorienting visitors’ primary duty to the university. Let me be clear—this would stand the idea of public oversight on its head. A corporate board has a duty to its shareholders. [Similarly], a public university board has a duty to its stakeholders, in this case the taxpayers of Virginia. When the interests of the university conflict with those of the public, the public’s needs must come first, and the job of determining that is that of the boards of visitors.

“ACTA understands the desire to protect Virginia’s boards of visitors from undue political interference, and we agree that for trustees to fulfill their fiduciary duties, they must be independent actors. However, I urge you to consider an alternative way to secure trustees’ independence, as their duty to serve the Commonwealth should not be misconstrued as a duty to obey any political actor.” Listen to Mr. Down’s full testimony here.

MEDIA CONTACT: Gabrielle Anglin
EMAIL: ganglin@goacta.org

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Campus Freedom Initiative

ACTA Gold Standard for Freedom of Expression

“Political tensions are inevitable on college and university campuses,” said Steven McGuire, ACTA’s Paul & Karen Levy Fellow in Campus Freedom. “Who can imagine a genuine place of learning, free inquiry, boundary-pushing, and intellectual growth that does not also invite robust debate, discussion, and sometimes even discord? But in recent years, colleges and universities have abandoned their roles as impartial incubators of debate and inserted themselves into the fray, acting and speaking for the university at large on matters on which there is no campus consensus. ACTA is urging higher education leaders to resist the temptation to impose their views on their communities and instead promote free and open debate and inquiry by adopting and enforcing robust principles of institutional neutrality.”

In addition to launching a web page dedicated to promoting institutional neutrality policies and tracking schools that have adopted or affirmed them, ACTA has leveraged its longstanding relationships with 23,000 higher education trustees to share information on institutional neutrality via mailings and emails. Trustee training and webinars will follow throughout 2024. Dr. McGuire will host Tony Banout, the inaugural executive director of the University of Chicago Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression, and Tom Ginsburg, Leo Spitz Professor of International Law at the University of Chicago, on ACTA’s podcast Higher Ed Now. The episode will be dedicated to the issue of institutional neutrality and will be released on February 22, 2024.Drs. Banout and Ginsburgare co-editors of a volume entitled The Chicago Canon on Free Inquiry and Expression, available for pre-order in March, which features the University of Chicago’s seminal documents articulating the principles of freedom of expression and institutional neutrality. These documents, developed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, now form the intellectual foundation of the campus free expression movement. 

One of the two documents is the University of Chicago’s 1967 Kalven Report, which explains the vital role of institutional neutrality in protecting the vibrant exchange of ideas that is the lifeblood of higher education. Colleges and universities that adopt institutional neutrality empower students and faculty to form and express their opinions on contemporary social and political issues fearlessly, without being stifled by an official policy or the personal beliefs of the university administration.

ACTA President Michael Poliakoff stated, “Too many college leaders are too quick to make political pronouncements, taking it upon themselves to speak for every member of the college community. But their sacred duty is ultimately pedagogy not punditry. By scrupulously following the guidance of the Kalven Report, they will do much to restore the intellectual diversity essential for higher education.”  

MEDIA CONTACT: Gabrielle Anglin
EMAIL: ganglin@goacta.org
PHONE: (202) 798-5425

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The author of T: The Story of Testosterone, the Hormone that Dominates and Divides Us, Dr. Hooven served as the former codirector of undergraduate studies in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. Her research focuses on how hormones shape human behavior (and vice versa), specifically related to sex differences. Her Hormones and Behavior class was named one of the “top ten tried and true” by the Harvard Crimson.

In 2021, she appeared on Fox and Friends to discuss the pressure some faculty feel to refrain from using terms such as “pregnant woman” and “male and female.” After her appearance, the director of her department’s diversity, inclusion, and belonging task force, a graduate student, published a Tweet calling her remarks “transphobic” and “dangerous.” The incident went viral, and a petition was circulated against Dr. Hooven. While facing intense attacks on her reputation and academic work, she received no support from the Harvard administration.

“Some say cancel culture isn’t real. What happened to Carole Hooven at Harvard is proof that it is,” said Steven McGuire, ACTA’s Paul & Karen Levy Fellow in Campus Freedom. “She was denounced and ostracized by students and other faculty members for daring to discuss matters related to her scientific expertise on a television program. Abandoned by all but a few of her colleagues, she refused to apologize or yield to the vicious attacks, and she took a stand for academic freedom, science, and the pursuit of truth. She truly is a hero of intellectual freedom, modeling for others the courage it takes to resist the whims of ideological censors.” Dr. McGuire recently engaged in a lively conversation with Dr. Hooven on ACTA’s podcast, Higher Ed Now.

“Carole Hooven was attacked for mentioning ideas that can be found in an introductory biology textbook. How can we hope to see progress in science if scholars cannot discuss even the basics of their fields without fear of reprisal from ideologues?” stated ACTA President Michael Poliakoff. “As Albert Einstein said, ‘freedom of communication is indispensable for the development and extension of scientific knowledge.’ Harvard abandoned its duties to science and to a member of its community when it refused to defend Dr. Hooven. We at ACTA take pride in honoring her. She has shown great courage and resilience and, unlike Harvard, has demonstrated her unwavering commitment to scientific integrity during this trial.”

ACTA will honor Dr. Hooven in Washington, DC, at our annual ATHENA Roundtable Conference on October 27, 2023. She joins a distinguished group of Heroes of Intellectual Freedom from previous years, including Professor Erec Smith of York College of Pennsylvania (2022), Professor Dorian Abbot of the University of Chicago (2021), and Joshua Katz, formerly of Princeton University (2020).

MEDIA CONTACT: Gabrielle Anglin
EMAIL: ganglin@goacta.org

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