Peter Wood is president of the National Association of Scholars and author of “1620: A Critical Response to the 1619 Project.”
Princeton University’s decision to reinstate SAT and ACT testing requirements marks a victory for common sense. The students who choose not to report their test scores to admissions departments are generally those who calculate that their scores are too low to make their applications competitive. Colleges have always understood that, but have gone along with […]
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The Dunmore Declaration probably gets more attention in 2025 than it did in 1775, when John Murray, Lord Dunmore and royal governor of Virginia, proclaimed that certain slaves and indentured servants in the colony who helped the British suppress the Patriot rebellion would be granted their freedom. The offer was limited to young men who […]
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Editor’s Note: The following article was originally published by the National Association of Scholars on October 28, 2025. With edits to match Minding the Campus’s style guidelines, it is crossposted here with permission. On October 1, the Trump administration sent a letter to nine American universities offering a “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.” […]
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Editor’s Note:The following is an excerpt of an article originally published by the National Association of Scholars on October 21, 2025. With edits to match Minding the Campus’s style guidelines, it is crossposted here with permission. What is the National Association of Scholars (NAS)? One answer was provided in the current issue of the Chronicle […]
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On October 13, 1775, the Second Continental Congress established the Continental Navy. How could the rebellious colonies dream of putting themselves forward as a sea power against the Royal Navy, the strongest maritime force in the world? It was another instance of the weakness that sometimes makes men audacious. Knowing that they had neither the […]
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Editor’s Note: The following is an article originally published by the National Association of Scholars on September 10, 2025. It is crossposted here with permission. We are appalled at the murder of Charlie Kirk. He was a decent man, a father and husband, a patriot, a Christian, and a force to be reckoned with in opposing the radical left […]
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The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) has once again taken the pulse of free expression on American campuses—and the patient’s health is declining. In its sixth annual College Free Speech Rankings, based on more than 68,000 student responses across 257 schools, FIRE reports that 166 institutions earned an “F” for their speech climate, […]
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The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently announced that George Mason University (GMU) violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by implementing policies that discriminated on the basis of race in hiring, promotion, and other university practices. The finding comes after years of criticism regarding the university’s aggressive […]
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One of my staff members in Southern California emailed me last night to check whether our New York–based National Association of Scholars staff were safe after the horrific Midtown Manhattan shooting. Yes, I told him, we’re fine. Millions of us New Yorkers were physically unscathed by Shane D. Tamura’s rampage with a rifle, in which […]
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Editor’s Note: The following is an article originally published by RealClear Education on July 25, 2025. It is crossposted here with permission. College presidencies turn over quickly. The American Council on Education (ACE) says the average tenure is now less than six years, a decline from 2006, when the rascals hung around for nine years on average. I’m […]
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Editor’s Note: The following is an article originally published by the National Association of Scholars on July 25, 2025. It is crossposted here with permission. Marilyn Penn, wife of attorney, art collector, and eclectic investor Arthur Penn, passed away on July 20, at age 84. Marilyn was an important figure in the history of the National Association of Scholars […]
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Sol Stern passed away on July 11 at age 89. Sol was my good friend, and I mourn his loss. Long before I met Sol, I reviewed one of his books, Breaking Free: Public School Lessons and the Imperative of School Choice. Years later, when we chanced to meet one another, he remembered that review […]
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One might think that if Concord and Lexington left room for doubt that the American colonies were rebelling against Britain, the June 17 affair at Bunker Hill would have settled the question. American farmers inflicting more than a thousand casualties on Britain’s troops was a pretty strong signal of discontent. Moreover, the decision of the […]
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The Harvard Crimson has a grammar-challenged headline asking, “Who Does Harvard Owe?” The editors rebuff all those who believe that Harvard owes something to America. Or for that matter, to “Congress,” the media, its alumni, and others on the question of how the university should be governed. The Crimson’s answer boils down to ‘shove off, […]
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Congress is weighing the possibility of creating “Workforce Pell.” Those would be Pell Grants, not for college students, but for individuals who want to enroll in short-term programs aimed at credentialing them for immediate employment. The idea is attractive to those of us who believe that far too many young people are lured into college […]
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June 17, 1775, was considered for generations of Americans after the date an “ignominious defeat.” The colonists had executed a brilliant stealth maneuver. Overnight, they had erected fortifications on a hill across the Charles River from Boston and had taken the British forces under Generals Gage and Howe by surprise. A battle ensued; in the […]
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Last week in RealClearEducation, Kenin M. Spivak argued that while Columbia University’s leadership and commencement ceremonies showcase a deep embrace of leftist ideology, student activism remains largely performative. Reflecting on his experience as both alumnus and guest at this year’s graduation, Spivak says that despite the dominance of DEI rhetoric and the praise for progressive […]
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“Surrender, in the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress!” That was Ethan Allen gently explaining to the skeleton British garrison at Fort Ticonderoga that their time had come. The capture of the fort on May 10, 1775, by what amounted to a guerrilla American force was not a battle for the ages. […]
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Editor’s Note: The following is an article originally published by the National Association of Scholars on April 30, 2025. It is crossposted here with permission. Much will be written in the coming days about David Horowitz, who passed away on April 29 at age 86. He will be rightly celebrated as a champion of truth-telling during a long […]
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At sunrise on April 19, 1775, about 80 American townsmen in Lexington, Massachusetts, filed out of Buckman Tavern onto Lexington Green. They were commanded by French and Indian War veteran John Parker. Parker was restrained. His words were, “Stand your ground; don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let […]
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Editor’s Note: The following excerpt was originally published by the National Association of Scholars on April 15, 2025. It has been edited to match Minding the Campus’s style guidelines and is cross-posted here with permission. The news this morning is, as one headline puts it, “Federal Government Freezes $2.26 Billion Funding to Harvard after It Refuses to Comply.” […]
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This essay has two parts. The first part painted a collective portrait of the National Association of Scholars (NAS) staff through the books they recommended for others. Here, I offer personal thoughts on what should constitute common reading for those who, like me, believe our society would thrive if more of us engaged with a […]
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This essay has two parts. First, it offers a collective portrait of the people who work for the National Association of Scholars (NAS) through the lens of the books they think other people should read. Whether that portrait will interest a broader audience, I don’t know, but it interests me not just because the seventeen […]
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Editor’s Note: This article was originally published by Doc Emet Productions on April 8, 2024. With edits to match MTC’s style guidelines, it is crossposted here with permission. As a young man, I was invited to dinner at the home of a senior professor at a respected liberal arts college. A man of conservative views and polished […]
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Editor’s Note: This article was originally published by the National Association of Scholars on March 31, 2025, and is crossposted here with permission. I have been asked by several members of the National Association of Scholars, as well as by members of the NAS staff, whether we have an official position on the recent developments at Columbia University. […]
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Editor’s Note: The following article was originally published by the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal on March 17, 2025. With edits to match Minding the Campus’s style guidelines, it is crossposted here with permission. Many of America’s large corporations are beating a retreat from their former commitments to saving the planet from catastrophic climate change. They are also […]
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The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is a classic 1948 Western directed by John Huston and starring Humphrey Bogart as Fred Dobbs, one of three desperate men hoping to strike it rich digging for gold in the mountains of Western Mexico. They indeed find gold but at high price. Murder, madness, and banditry ensue. Ultimately […]
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It is immensely encouraging to see state legislatures proposing and, in some cases, passing bills that would end “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) indoctrination in public colleges and universities. DEI programs are widespread in higher education, and they do profound harm to students, faculty, and the quality of education. Getting rid of them, however, is […]
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President Trump is determined to repair American education. He has started out with bold moves, including the demolition of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) ideology, the elimination of men from women’s sports, and taking steps against campus anti-Semitism. Yet much remains to be done. Now that DEI has been called out as a form of […]
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Aaron Sibarium at the Washington Free Beacon reports that Michigan State University (MSU) has swept aside charges that the dean of its College of Education, Jerlando Jackson, is a serial plagiarist. MSU’s actions appear to fall short of a formal exoneration, but the university’s student newspaper, State News, quotes a letter from the MSU president, […]
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