In the October 21 Forbes article “Getting Intellectual Diversity on Campus,” Richard Vedder, who directs the Center for College Affordability and Productivity (CCAP), teaches at Ohio University, and is an Adjunct Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, discusses the benefits of non-profits like the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI). When discussing the pursuit of intellectual diversity on campus in his article, Vedder states:
“While fighting for diversity of views within the university is worthwhile, there is an alternative approach that appeals greatly to me, exemplified by the “Uncomfortable Learning” program at Williams College, and, in some ways similarly, of the Alexander Hamilton Institute (AHI) located near Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. Neither program is officially connected in any way with the college – indeed, Hamilton’s administration has generally been openly hostile to AHI. Yet both used alumni funding to create a non-profit entity separate from the college, but designed to benefit college students. I have spoken at both places and think both programs are first-rate, bringing major scholars to campus (or, in Hamilton’s case, near campus). They are speakers who generally hold contrarian views – different from those of the academic majority.”
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