Big Hopes Pinned on Obama at National Association of Scholars' Meeting

The Chronicle of Higher Education
Peter Schmidt
Monday, January 12, 2009
Washington

As if President-elect Barack Obama did not have enough on his plate already, speakers at the National Association of Scholars' annual conference expressed hope on Friday that his election would result in big changes on college campuses in terms of race relations and students' freedom of speech.
The speakers expressed such wishes for the new administration during a panel discussion titled "The Changing Political Landscape of Higher Education." Considering who the speakers were, it seemed possible to feel at least a little shifting along old fault lines already, at least within the Washington Marriott meeting room here where the discussion was held.
Hailing Mr. Obama's election as "a racial conversation changer" on campuses was Abigail N. Thernstrom, a Manhattan Institute scholar, vice chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and prominent critic of colleges' affirmative-action policies.
She argued that campuses were "the last place in America" to reflect the thawing of race relations—and the willingness of whites to treat blacks as equals—that she sees Mr. Obama's election as symbolizing. And she predicted that Mr. Obama's inauguration would lead to "less bitterness and estrangement on the part of blacks" at colleges, with the waning of racially themed dormitories, black-studies programs, and self-segregation on campuses.
Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education—a group that monitors free speech on campuses—said he was disappointed by how little effort the Republican Party had put into fighting efforts to restrict students' speech while it held power here in the capital.

Full Story: http://chronicle.com/daily/2009/01/9411n.htm?utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

National Association of Scholars Starts New Effort to Watch Campuses

The Chronicle of Higher Education
News Blog
July 30, 2008

The National Association of Scholars is asking both faculty members and ordinary citizens to monitor campuses for activities that it finds objectionable.

In a news release issued today to roll out the new effort, the group said it had recruited volunteers partly by inviting readers of Townhall.com, a conservative Web site, to take a survey designed “to learn the educational background and opinion outlook of those attracted by the concept of campus-watching.” Each volunteer has picked a college to watch and has begun “to look into whether that college conducts politicized teaching, requires ideological adherence, or sustains slights to conservative students.”
The group says the recruits also will be on the lookout for “mission statements that betray an ideological agenda and residence-life programs that include political and diversity training.” Two weeks ago, it issued a statement denouncing such residence-life programs, as well as certain approaches to diversity training, as part of a movement on campuses to indoctrinate students in leftist ideology. [To see the entire news blog, go to: http://chronicle.com/news/article/4901/national-association-of-scholars-starts-new-effort-to-watch-campuses?utm_source=at&utm_medium=en ]

Posted on Tuesday July 29, 2008