Accuracy in Academia
Accuracy in Academia (AIA) is an American non-profit organization, watchdog group,[1]and think tank that "wants schools [i.e., colleges and universities in the United States] to return to their traditional mission-the quest for truth."[2] The AIA could generally be described as sympathetic to right wing and conservative ideology,[3] and is particularly critical of what they describe as a liberal/left-wing bias in American academia.[4] The AIA characterizes such bias as liberal or communist "indoctrination," and aims to stand up for the rights of politically conservative students and faculty.
The American Association of University Professors[5] describes the AIA as a threat to academic freedom due to the group's efforts to recruit students to report professors alleged to "disseminate misinformation." In contrast, others in academia have described the AIA as a "useful irritant."[6]
History
The AIA was founded in 1985 by columnist and former Federal Reserve economist Reed Irvine as an outgrowth of Accuracy in Media.
The AIA is run by executive director Daniel J. Flynn, the author of the book Why the Left Hates America. The AIA is opposed to multicultural education. Additionally, the AIA objects to some applications of the Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; though Title IX was enacted to eliminate discrimination against women in higher education the AIA argues that "the law is doing so at the expense of men," such as a feminist professor at Boston College who refused to admit men to her courses.[7] The group also is opposed to abortion. The group initially was criticized by prominent conservative and first Secretary of Education William Bennett, who said at the time of its founding in 1986 described AIA as “a bad idea.”
External links
References
- ^ Aby, Stephen H. 2007. The academic bill of rights debate: a handbook. Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 0275992446
- ^ http://www.academia.org/about.html
- ^ http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=16205
- ^ Hunter, James Davison, Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America, New York: Basic Books, 1992 ISBN 0-465-01534-4
- ^ Benjamin, Ernst, et al. 1985. On "Accuracy in Academia" and Academic Freedom. Academe, v71 n5 p1a Sep-Oct 1985.
- ^ quoted in Hunter
- ^ http://www.academia.org/campus_reports/2003/oct_2003_28.html