Press Releases | Western Civilization

ACTA Wins the Heritage Foundation’s 2015 Salvatori Prize

The Annual Prize is Awarded for Demonstrating “the Spirit of Independent and Entrepreneurial Citizenship in the United States”
May 7, 2015

WASHINGTON, DC—Today the Heritage Foundation awarded the American Council of Trustees and Alumni the 2015 Salvatori Prize in recognition of ACTA’s What Will They Learn?™ project and its historical literacy initiatives.

“We think that returning our colleges and universities to first principles is the way to realize the Founders’ vision—focusing on the search for truth, focusing on giving students a strong foundation of skills and knowledge, bringing an end to the stifling political correctness on too many campuses,” said ACTA President Anne Neal, who accepted the award in Seattle on behalf of the organization.

Each year the Heritage Foundation awards the $25,000 prize to an individual or organization that advances “the principles of the American Founding, embodies the virtues of character and mind that animated the Founders and exemplifies the spirit of independent and entrepreneurial citizenship in the United States.” The prize is named for the late entrepreneur and philanthropist Henry Salvatori.

“It’s critically important that the next generation be ready for productive careers and informed citizenship in these challenging times,” said Sen. Jim DeMint, President of the Heritage Foundation. “The American Council of Trustees and Alumni is working tirelessly to ensure that tomorrow’s leaders graduate from college with the skills, knowledge, judgment, and character on which our nation’s future so greatly depends.”

The What Will They Learn? project was featured prominently in the Wall Street Journal in 2014. ACTA’s three historical literacy surveys—on D-Day, the Roosevelts, and the Lincoln assassination—resulted in a column by Cal Thomas and op-eds featured by USA Today, Houston Chronicle, and Philadelphia Inquirer.

“The crisis of American higher education would be far deeper were it not for ACTA’s willingness to challenge low academic standards, wasteful spending, and betrayal of public trust,” said David Azerrad, director of the B. Kenneth Simon Center for Principles and Politics at the Heritage Foundation. “Wherever excellence and efficiency are under attack, ACTA, tireless and unblinking, is our defense.”

Recent winners of the award include the Claremont Institute and historian and author David McCullough.

CONTACT:           
Daniel Burnett
Director of Communications      
202.467.6787 DBurnett@goacta.org

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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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