The Campus Intellectual Diversity Act
Stanley Kurtz
Intellectual Takeout: Would You Like an Education with Your Degree?
NAS welcomes the emergence of Intellectual Takeout, a one-st......
UT Austin's "Faculty Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Strategic Plan"
The National Association of Scholars condemns this insidious......
Why "Comprehensive" History is Controversial
Two new bills that would require general education require......
The model state-level legislation below was authored by Stanley Kurtz, a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, and was last updated on November 29, 2021. NAS's endorsement of this model can be found here, and Kurtz's explanation and defense of it can be found here.
WHEREAS, the advancement of knowledge that is the fundamental purpose of the university is crucially facilitated by the fearless sifting and winnowing of a wide diversity of views; and
WHEREAS, open discussion and debate of contested public policy issues from diverse perspectives provides essential preparation for mature citizenship and an informed exercise of the right to vote; now, therefore,
Be It Enacted:
The Board of Trustees of the state university system shall establish, fund, and staff an Office of Public Policy Events on every campus of the state university system, the responsibilities of which shall include, at least, the following:
Organizing, publicizing, and staging debates, group forums, and individual lectures that address from multiple, divergent, and opposing perspectives an extensive range of public policy issues widely-discussed and debated in society at large.
Inviting speakers who hold a wide diversity of perspectives, from within and outside the campus community, to participate in debates, group forums, and individual lectures. If the office of public policy events is unable to readily find an advocate from within the university who is well-versed in a perspective the office wishes to see represented in a given debate, group forum or individual lecture, the office should seek to invite such a speaker from outside the university.
Providing, where necessary, honoraria, travel, and lodging expenses to participants in debates, group forums, and individual lectures organized by the Office of Public Policy Events, from outside the campus community.
Maintaining a permanent, publicly accessible, searchable, and up-to-date calendar in print and Internet-accessible formats listing all events sponsored by the Office of Public Policy Events, and all other debates, group forums, and individual lectures open to the entire campus community at a given institution within the state university system, that address public policy issues, itemizing the title of the event or lecture, the name and institutional affiliation of the speaker or speakers, and the office, institute, department, program, or organization, that sponsored the event, excluding those events sponsored by off-campus groups in rented facilities.
Delivering a printed and a pdf-formatted copy of the previous academic year's annual public policy event calendar for all institutions in the state university system, arranged chronologically for each individual institution within the state university system, to the public, the Governor, and the State Legislature by September 1 of each year, and preserving and making available to the public copies of all yearly event calendars in the libraries of the state university system.
Making publicly available a complete Internet-accessible video record of every debate, group forum, and individual lecture organized by the Office of Public Policy Events, mounting that video record on the Internet within ten in-session working days of the event in question, and maintaining that video record in a fully public, Internet-accessible form for at least five years following the date of the event. Videos records of every debate, group forum, and individual lecture organized by the Office of Public Policy Events at a given institution within the State University System should also be permanently preserved within, and made available to the public through, the library of that institution.
At its discretion, for any given campus of the State University System, the Board of Trustees of the State University System may assign the duties of the Office of Public Policy Events described in this Act to an existing administrative office, so long as an administrator in that office is designated as the Director of Public Policy Events for that campus. In such cases, the duties and reporting responsibilities of the Office of Public Policy Events described in this Act shall apply to the Director of Public Policy Events and the Director's staff.
The Office of Public Policy Events on any given campus of the State University System shall report directly to either the University Office of Reporting and Analytics (the university office responsible for compiling and reporting the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, IPEDS, Graduation Rate Survey), or to the Office of General Counsel on that campus.
All debates, group forums, and individual lectures organized by the Office of Public Policy Events at a given institution shall be open to all students, faculty, and staff at that institution, and, unless restricting attendance by persons unaffiliated with the university is necessary to achieve a compelling governmental interest, to the general public as well.
Section 5. (Optional)
[If so desired, the legislature can authorize funding for Offices of Public Policy Events within the State University System. Otherwise, funding for these offices can be taken out of the existing university appropriation.]
While the legislature offers no specific directives on the number of events, the choice of individual event topics, or the particular viewpoints to be held by participants, each Office of Public Policy Events shall aspire to:
Organize a substantial number of all three event-types: debates, group forums, and individual lectures.
Obtain the participation of speakers who represent widely-held views on opposing sides of the most widely-discussed public policy issues of the day.
Invite and host speakers from outside the university who are well-versed in a perspective the office wishes to see represented in a given debate, group forum or individual lecture, if such a speaker is not readily available from within the university.
"Debate" is defined as an event at which two or more participants speak in favor of opposing approaches to the same public policy dispute, after which each participant is allotted time to address and rebut the position presented by the opposing speaker or speakers.
"Group Forum" is defined as an event at which two or more speakers address a public policy dispute from divergent or opposing perspectives, after which each participant is allotted time to address questions from the audience and to comment on their fellow speakers' positions, if they so choose.
New Study Tracks Rise of DEI in STEM Departments, Associations, Grants, and Literature
A new study published today by the National Association of Scholars, Ideological Intensification, offers an in-depth quantitative analysis of just how far DEI has advanced into STEM fields....
NAS Celebrates the Nomination of Reform-Minded Trustees to the New College of Florida Board
The National Association of Scholars is delighted with Governor Ron DeSantis' nomination of six education reformers to the Board of Trustees of the New College of Florida....
NAS Statement on Nomination of Ben Sasse for University of Florida President
We believe that Senator Sasse would make an excellent president of the University of Florida, and we urge the Board of Trustees to follow the search committee's recommendation....
Where Did We Get the Idea That Only White People Can Be Racist?
A look at the double standard that has arisen regarding racism, illustrated recently by the reaction to a black professor's biased comments on Twitter....
Ask a Scholar: What is the True Definition of Latino?
What does it mean to be Latino? Are only Latin American people Latino, or does the term apply to anyone whose language derived from Latin?...
NAS Condemns the Attacks against Jordan Peterson
The National Association of Scholars condemns the unrelenting illiberal attacks being levied against Dr. Peterson and against anyone who dares push back against the enemies of intellectual f......