Annual ATHENA Roundtable & Philip Merrill Award Gala
DARE TO BE WISE: Enlightenment and the American College Campus
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Make your gift countSeptember 28, 2023 by ACTA and in partnership with the Alumni Free Speech Alliance
For too long, alumni voices have been relegated to cheerleading and boosting, with America’s colleges and universities welcoming their dollars but not their ideas. Alumni are more than walking checkbooks.
September 19, 2023
The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) is proud to announce an update of our interactive college choice tool.
ACTA Launches Redesign of WhatWillTheyLearn.comSeptember 7, 2023
Jonathan Marks has been an educator for almost a quarter century, and is currently Professor and Chair of Politics…
September 1, 2023
Front Page: ACTA’s Armand Alacbay Appointed to GMU Board. We are delighted to report that on June 28, 2023,…
ACTA’s report, “No U.S. History? How College History Departments Leave the United States out of the Major,” found that 18 of the top 25 public universities did not have a wide-ranging American history requirement for students seeking a B.A. in history in the major or core curriculum.
Download PDFSeptember 20, 2023
In March 2023, ACTA hosted its first Alumni Summit on Free Expression in Washington, DC, in partnership with the Alumni Free Speech Alliance (AFSA). More than 100 individuals from various AFSA member groups and
Higher Ed Now: Free Speech Barriers and Legal RemediesSeptember 18, 2023
ACTA’s Steven McGuire interviews Carole Hooven, whose book titled T: The Story of Testosterone, the Hormone that Dominates and Divides Us, was published…
September 8, 2023 by Ed Robinson
Ed Robinson was elected President of the Bucknell University Student Government as just a sophomore. Ed Robinson was…
ACTA now provides a blueprint to help higher education regain and live by this core principle. The ACTA Gold Standard for Freedom of Expression™ provides clear guidance for institutions to create a culture of free thought on their campuses.
Download PDFThe Washington Examiner | September 22, 2023 by Samuel J. Abrams
The stories of illiberal and repressive forces on campuses nationwide are seemingly unending. Mob-style cancel culture and violent protests at American universities are no longer exceptional. Professors and students are now regularly threatened with cancellation and expulsion. And notably, these attempts to silence discourse and disagreement often involve
College administrators are the problemBlaze Media | September 21, 2023 by Steven McGuire
Are layoffs racist or antiracist? Boston University Professor Phillipe Copeland would like to know. When news broke that Ibram X. Kendi’s Center…
Minding The Campus | September 15, 2023 by Andrew Gillen
The once-sleepy topic of accreditation continues to take shape as perhaps the most important frontline topic in the battle…
Governance for a New Era is a blueprint for higher education governance. Signatories to the statement, a diverse group of 22 distinguished national leaders dedicated to ensuring America’s colleges and universities shed 20th century thinking and successfully meet 21st century challenges.
Download PDFDARE TO BE WISE: Enlightenment and the American College Campus
Join UsForbes | June 21, 2023 by Michael B. Poliakoff
The answer spans “significant progress” to “beyond a doubt.” We are seeing meaningful breakthroughs in the Texas capital, and the University of Austin (UATX) is clearly destined to be a new national model. Meanwhile, survey data released today show that making even more progre…
Newsweek | April 14, 2023 by Michael B. Poliakoff and Paul S. Levy
Even in a year of disgraceful coast-to-coast shout-downs, stretching from Yale Law School to Stanford Law School, the persecution of Professor Amy Wax stands out. It should summon the legal profession and American higher education to action. If we fail to reassert the core values of academic free…
Washington Post | March 1, 2023 by Henry Olsen
TUCSON — If, like me, you are worried about political polarization and what it is doing to our country, I invite you to consider Arizona’s Regents’ Cup. It might just offer you a ray of hope for our democracy. I recently participated as a moderator and judge at the event. Sponsored by the Arizona…
RealClear Education | February 17, 2023 by Michael B. Poliakoff and Steven McGuire
Will every State University of New York (SUNY) student be compelled to absorb fashionable social justice theories,without being required to learn the basics of American history or government? Is the whole of the American experience less important than a narrow slice of it? SUNY reported…
institutions have been counseled by ACTA on matters of cost effectiveness, financial governance, and institutional spending. See ACTA’s one-of-a-kind higher education financial analysis tool: HowCollegesSpendMoney.com.
institutions representing over three million students, encouraged by ACTA, reaffirmed their commitment to free speech on campus by adopting the Chicago Principles on Freedom of Expression.
institutions have improved their core curriculum requirements based on ACTA’s annual What Will They Learn?® initiative. Visit WhatWillTheyLearn.com
students from 100+ Institutions have engaged in civil discourse debates through ACTA’s college debates program partnership with Braver Angels and Bridge USA.
news outlets reaching 14 million readers have covered ACTA’s nationwide impact on academic excellence, academic freedom, and accountability in higher education.
million dollars in gifts to higher education have been guided through ACTA’s Fund for Academic Renewal. Visit AcademicRenewal.org.
Launched in 1995, we are the only organization that works with alumni, donors, trustees, and education leaders across the United States to support liberal arts education, uphold high academic standards, safeguard the free exchange of ideas on campus, and ensure that the next generation receives an intellectually rich, high-quality college education at an affordable price.
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