National Association of Scholars

American advocacy nonprofit interested in education

Not to be confused with National Academy of Sciences (NAS).

National Association of Scholars

Predecessor| Campus Coalition for Democracy
Formation| 1987; 38 years ago (1987)
Founder| Stephen Balch
Type| 501(c)3 organization

Tax ID no.

| 11-2741490
Headquarters| New York City, New York, US
Membership| Approx. 2,600[a]

President

| Peter Wyatt Wood

Acting Chairman

| Keith Whitaker
Revenue| $1,167,745[1] (2016)
Expenses| $1,095,412[1] (2016)
Staff| 10
Website| nas.org

The National Association of Scholars (NAS) is an American 501(c)(3) non-profit politically conservative education advocacy organization.[2][3] It advocates against multiculturalism, diversity policies, and against courses focused on race and gender issues.[4][5]

## History and organization

[edit]

NAS founding president Stephen Balch receiving the National Humanities Medal from US President George W. Bush.

Originally called the Campus Coalition for Democracy, the National Association of Scholars was founded in 1987 by Herbert London and Stephen Balch[6][7] with the goal of preserving the "Western intellectual heritage".[2] As of 2021[update], Peter Wyatt Wood is the president.[8] The advisory board of the NAS has included several notable conservatives, such as Jeane Kirkpatrick, a former United States Ambassador to the United Nations and adviser to Ronald Reagan. Chester Finn helped to form the conservative movement's education policies.[5] According to the association, it has affiliates in 46 U.S. states, as well as in Guam and Canada.[9]

NAS has received funding from politically conservative foundations, including the Sarah Scaife Foundation, the John M. Olin Foundation, the Bradley Foundation, the Castle Rock Foundation, the Smith Richardson Foundation, and the Arthur N. Rupe Foundation.[10][11][12]

## Positions and activities

[edit]

This article is part of a series on

Conservatism
in the United States

Schools

* Compassionate
* Fiscal
* Fusion
* Liberal
* Libertarian
* Moderate
* Movement
* Neo-
* Paleo-
* Postliberal
* Populist
* Progressive
* Social
* Straussian
* Traditionalist

Principles

* American exceptionalism
* American nationalism
* Anti-communism
* Christian nationalism
* Classical liberalism
* Communitarianism
* Constitutionalism
* Culture of life
* Pro-life
* Familialism
* Family values
* Federalism
* States' rights
* Gender essentialism
* Judeo-Christian values
* Individualism
* Law and order
* Limited government
* Meritocracy
* Natural aristocracy
* Militarism
* Peace through strength
* Moral absolutism
* Natural law
* Ordered liberty
* Patriotism
* Property rights
* Republicanism
* Right to bear arms
* Rule of law
* Supply-side economics
* Tradition

History

* Loyalists
* Southern chivalry
* Solid South
* Redeemers
* New Humanism
* Southern Agrarians
* Old Right
* Conservative Manifesto
* Conservative coalition
* America First Committee
* McCarthyism
* United States in the 1950s
* Goldwater campaign
* New Right
* Reagan era
* Reagan Doctrine
* Reaganomics
* Republican Revolution
* Tea Party movement
* Neo- vs. paleoconservatism
* Trump era
* First term
* Second term

Intellectuals

* Adams
* Anton
* Babbitt
* Bacevich
* Bell
* Bellow
* Berger
* Bloom
* Boorstin
* Bradford
* Buckley
* Burgess
* Burnham
* Calhoun
* Chambers
* Conquest
* Deneen
* Eastman
* Eliot
* Francis
* Genovese
* Gottfried
* Hanson
* Hazony
* Himmelfarb
* Hoppe
* Hurston
* Jaffa
* Kerouac
* Kimball
* Kirk
* Kirkpatrick
* Kreeft
* Kristol
* Kuehnelt-Leddihn
* Lasch
* Lind
* Lovecraft
* Loury
* Lukacs
* Mansfield
* Mencken
* Meyer
* Molnar
* Murray
* Nisbet
* Pangle
* Ransom
* Rieff
* Santayana
* Schaeffer
* Sowell
* Stein
* Strauss
* Viereck
* Voegelin
* Weaver
* Wharton
* Wolfe

Politicians

* Abbott
* Adams (John)
* Adams (John Quincy)
* Bolton
* Buchanan (James)
* Buchanan (Pat)
* Bush (George H. W.)
* Bush (George W.)
* Calhoun
* Cheney
* Clay
* Cleveland
* Coolidge
* Cruz
* DeSantis
* Dirksen
* Dole
* Eisenhower
* Gingrich
* Goldwater
* Harding
* Helms
* Hoover (Herbert)
* Huckabee
* Lodge
* Luce
* McCain
* McCarthy
* McConnell
* McKinley
* Nixon
* Palin
* Paul (Rand)
* Paul (Ron)
* Pence
* Pierce
* Randolph
* Reagan
* Romney
* Rubio
* Rumsfeld
* Ryan
* Santorum
* Sherman
* Taft (Robert)
* Taft (William)
* Thurmond
* Trump
* Vance
* Wallace
* Wolfowitz

Jurists

* Alito
* Barrett
* Bork
* Burger
* Colson
* Frelinghuysen
* George
* Goldsmith
* Gorsuch
* Harlan II
* Kavanaugh
* Kennedy
* Luttig
* Meese
* O'Connor
* Parker
* Rehnquist
* Roberts (John)
* Sanford
* Scalia
* Sessions
* Sutherland
* Taft (William)
* Thomas (Clarence)
* Vermeule
* Whittaker

Commentators

* Ahmari
* Beck
* Bongino
* Breitbart
* Buchanan (Pat)
* Buckley
* Carlson
* Cass
* Chodorov
* Coulter
* D'Souza
* Derbyshire
* DiLorenzo
* Dreher
* Elder
* Goldberg
* Grant
* Griffin
* Van den Haag
* Hannity
* Hart
* Herberg
* Hoover (Margaret)
* Ingraham
* Jones
* Kelly
* Kirk
* Knowles
* Krauthammer
* Lahren
* Levin
* Limbaugh
* Mac Donald
* Neuhaus
* Ngo
* North
* Novak
* O'Reilly
* Owens
* Podhoretz
* Pool
* Portnoy
* Prager
* Robertson
* Shapiro
* Shlaes
* Sullivan
* Walsh
* Watters
* Will
* Wintrich
* Woods

Activists

* Abramoff
* Agostinelli
* Ahmanson
* Andreessen
* Atwater
* Bannon
* Bennett
* Bezmenov
* Blum
* Bozell
* Cohn
* Coors
* Dans
* Dobson
* Dolan
* Drudge
* Falwell
* Feulner
* Flynn
* Gabriel
* Horowitz
* Kauffman
* Krikorian
* Kristol
* LaHaye
* Lindell
* Lindbergh
* Leo
* McEntee
* Mercer (Rebekah)
* Mercer (Robert)
* Miller
* Murdoch
* Musk
* Political views
* O'Keefe
* Park
* Phillips
* Posobiec
* Powell
* Raichik
* Reed
* Regnery
* Roberts (Kevin)
* Rove
* Rufo
* Rusher
* Scaife
* Schlafly (Andrew)
* Schlafly (Phyllis)
* Stone
* Thiel
* Viguerie
* Thomas (Ginni)
* Washington
* Weyrich
* Wood
* Wiles

Literature

* The Federalist Papers (1788)
* Democracy in America (1835–1840)
* Notes on Democracy (1926)
* I'll Take My Stand (1930)
* Our Enemy, the State (1935)
* The Managerial Revolution (1941)
* Ideas Have Consequences (1948)
* God and Man at Yale (1951)
* The Conservative Mind (1953)
* The Conscience of a Conservative (1960)
* A Choice Not an Echo (1964)
* Losing Ground (1984)
* A Conflict of Visions (1987)
* The Closing of the American Mind (1987)
* The Bell Curve (1994)
* The Revolt of the Elites (1995)
* The Death of the West (2001)
* The Blank Slate (2002)
* Black Rednecks and White Liberals (2005)
* Hillbilly Elegy (2017)
* The Benedict Option (2017)
* Why Liberalism Failed (2018)

Concerns

* Abortion
* American decline
* Cancel Culture
* Culture war
* Multiculturalism
* "Disparate impact" controversy
* CRT controversy
* DEI controversy
* Griggs v. Duke Power Co.
* Higher ed. bubble
* Go woke, go broke
* ESG
* "Woke capitalism"
* Homeschooling
* Immigration reduction
* Illegal immigration
* Immigration and crime
* Border crisis
* Intelligence and public policy
* Constitutional interpretations
* Originalism
* Textualism
* Managerial state
* Mudsill theory
* Second Amendment
* Sub-replacement fertility
* Unitary executive

Parties

Active

* American Party
* American Independent Party
* Conservative Party of New York State
* Constitution Party
* Republican Party

Defunct

* Anti-Masonic Party
* Constitutional Union Party
* Democratic Party (historically, factions)
* Boll weevils
* Bourbon Democrats
* Conservative Democrats
* Dixiecrats
* Reagan Democrats
* Southern Democrats
* Rhode Island Suffrage Party
* Federalist Party
* National Republican Party
* Native American Party
* Whig Party

Think tanks

* Acton Institute
* AdTI
* Advancing American Freedom
* AEI
* CSP
* Center for the National Interest
* Claremont Institute
* CEI
* CSPC
* EPPC
* FRI
* Gatestone Institute
* Heartland Institute
* The Heritage Foundation
* Heritage Action
* Mandate for Leadership
* Project 2025
* Hoover Institution
* Hudson Institute
* ISI
* James Madison Program
* Leadership Institute
* Manhattan Institute
* Mises Institute
* PRI
* Project for the New American Century (Defunct)
* Ripon Society
* R Street Institute
* Rockford Institute
* SPN
* Sutherland Institute
* Tax Foundation
* Witherspoon Institute

Media

Newspapers

* Chicago Tribune
* The Epoch Times
* New Hampshire Union Leader
* The Jewish Voice
* The New York Observer
* New York Post
* The Remnant
* The Wall Street Journal (editorial board)
* The Washington Times

Journals

* American Affairs
* The American Conservative
* The American Spectator
* American Thinker
* City Journal
* Claremont Review of Books
* Commentary
* Compact
* Chronicles
* The Dispatch
* First Things
* The Imaginative Conservative
* Jewish World Review
* Modern Age
* National Affairs
* The National Interest
* National Review
* The New American
* The New Atlantis
* The New Criterion
* Policy Review (defunct)
* Public Discourse
* Southern Partisan
* Spectator USA
* Tablet
* Taki's Magazine
* Telos
* Washington Examiner
* The Weekly Standard (defunct)

TV channels

* CBN
* Fox Business
* Fox News
* Newsmax TV
* One America News Network
* VOZ

Websites

* Babylon Bee
* Breitbart News
* The Bulwark
* Campus Reform
* The Center Square
* Conservative Review
* Daily Caller
* Daily Signal
* Daily Wire
* Discover the Networks
* The Federalist
* FrontPage Magazine
* Front Porch Republic
* Gateway Pundit
* Hot Air
* Human Events
* Independent Journal Review
* InfoWars
* Jihad Watch
* LifeZette
* NewsBusters
* PJ Media
* Rare
* RedState
* The Dispatch
* Townhall
* Twitchy
* Washington Examiner
* The Washington Free Beacon
* The Western Journal
* WorldNetDaily

Other

* Blaze Media
* Encounter Books
* Evie Magazine
* The First
* Imprimis
* The Political Cesspool
* Passage Publishing
* PragerU
* RealClearPolitics
* Red Scare
* Regnery Publishing
* RSBN
* The Rubin Report
* Sinclair Broadcast Group

Other organizations

Congressional caucuses

* Second Amendment Caucus
* RSC
* Liberty Caucus
* Freedom Caucus
* Republican Main Street Partnership
* Republican Governance Group
* Blue Dog Coalition

Economics

* ATR
* Club for Growth
* FreedomWorks (defunct)
* NFIB
* NTU
* Tea Party Patriots
* USCC

Gun rights

* GOA
* NAGR
* NRA

Identity politics

* ACT!
* CWA
* Council of Conservative Citizens
* GAG
* IWF
* LCR
* Moms for Liberty

Nativist

* CIS
* FAIR
* Immigration Restriction League
* NumbersUSA
* Oath Keepers
* Three Percenters

Religion

* ADF
* Court cases
* ACLJ
* AFA
* The American TFP
* Chalcedon Foundation
* CCA
* Christian Voice
* Eagle Forum
* FCR
* The Fellowship
* FFC
* Focus on the Family
* Foundation for Moral Law
* Liberty Counsel
* Moral Majority (defunct)
* NOM
* NRLC
* PTMC
* Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America
* Thomas More Law Center

Watchdog groups

* AIM
* Econ Journal Watch
* Franklin News Foundation
* JW
* MRC
* O'Keefe Media Group
* Project Veritas (defunct)

Youth/student groups

* NJC
* TPUSA
* Young Americans for Freedom
* Young America's Foundation
* YAL

Miscellaneous

* The 85 Fund
* AHI
* ACU
* Bradley Foundation
* TCC
* CNP
* CPAC
* Hillsdale College
* IFF
* JBS
* John M. Olin Foundation (defunct)
* Liberty Fund
* LU
* NAS
* Philadelphia Society
* Regent University
* Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal
* TPPF

Other

* AFL
* Atlas Network
* CN
* ConservAmerica
* Donors Trust
* FedSoc
* Gab
* Gettr
* NCPAC
* PJI
* Parler
* The Right Stuff
* Turning Point Action
* SACR
* YRNF
* Ziklag

Movements

* Asian and Pacific Islander
* Black
* Christian right
* Reconstructionism
* Classical education movement
* Paideia
* Dark Enlightenment
* Female
* Green
* Hispanic and Latino
* LGBT
* Libertarian republicans
* Militia movement
* Monarchism
* Mormon
* White Horse Prophecy
* Theodemocracy
* Parental rights movement
* Fathers' rights
* Patriot movement
* Christian
* Radical right
* Reactionary feminism
* Right-libertarianism
* Paleolibertarianism
* Secessionism
* Neo-Confederates
* in Texas
* Trumpism
* Never Trump

Related

* Agenda 47
* America First
* Bibliography of US conservatism
* Conservative talk radio
* Dunning School
* GOP factions
* History of US conservatism
* Modern timeline
* List of American conservatives
* NatCon
* Colloquialisms
* "Barstool conservatism"
* "Cuckservative"
* "Don't immanentize the eschaton!"
* Republicans pounce
* RINO
* "South Park Republican"

* Conservatism portal
* United States portal

* v
* t
* e

The NAS engaged the American Association of University Professors over its diversity standard, and complained to the secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, Lamar Alexander, who ruled that the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools must eliminate it. Academics studying the group have described NAS as "conservative",[13] a "group of reactionary scholars" and "a leading vehicle for the conservative attack on multiculturalism and political correctness."[14] Jacob Weisberg stated in 1991 that NAS is "prone to conflating its admirable ideals with far less compelling political prejudices."[15]

Chapters of the NAS have been involved in a number of campus controversies related to affirmative action and multicultural studies programs. According to People for the American Way, NAS faculty at the University of Texas, Austin blocked the inclusion of civil rights readings in an English course; the readings had been proposed to address concerns about racial and sexual harassment on campus.[11] In 1990, the NAS placed an advertisement in the Daily Texan (the University of Texas student newspaper), calling for the rejection of a proposed multiculturalism curriculum at the University of Texas.[16] Simultaneously, the NAS encouraged a successful campaign to defund the university's Chicano newspaper.[11] Time magazine in 1991 called NAS the "faculty opposition to the excesses of multiculturalism" and to "courses about race and gender issues".[4]

In 1990, a Duke University chapter of the NAS was formed by political science professor James David Barber. The new chapter provoked "a sometimes bitter debate" about the NAS stances on race and gender, and on whether academic freedom should extend to what NAS critics viewed as intolerance. Stanley Fish, chairman of the English department at Duke, wrote that NAS "is widely known to be racist, sexist and homophobic." In an interview with the Durham Morning Herald, Barber called Fish "an embarrassment to this university for his gross insult to this organization". In response to the NAS chapter formation, a larger group of faculty formed "Duke Faculty for Academic Tolerance".[17]

Also in 1990, the Harvard University community debated the presence of the NAS. Writing in the Harvard Crimson, Martin L. Kilson Jr. acknowledged some "overzealous behavior by supporters of ethnic studies and women studies" but argued that the NAS was an "overkill neoconservative response". In Kilson's view, NAS had succumbed to "anxiety and maybe phobia" of multiculturalism. He asks, "Why shouldn't persons on our campuses go to great lengths to avoid the tag 'racist'? Or the tags 'homophobic', 'sexist', 'anti-Asian', etc.?"[18][4]

In 2001, it was reported that the Colorado Commission on Higher Education had paid the National Association of Scholars $25,000 to generate a report on several Colorado universities with education programs. The NAS report criticized diversity curricula and recommended that the University of Colorado's education program be suspended and new admissions to other programs be halted.[5] University of Colorado, Boulder dean William Stanley resigned in protest of what he called "teacher-bashing" by the NAS,[3] while regent Bob Sievers deplored "anti-teaching, anti-C.U./Boulder, anti-women and anti-minority bias". Questions were also raised regarding why money was paid to a "right-wing" organization like the NAS[3] rather than to a group "with credentials in teacher education".[5]

In September 2008, The New York Times described the NAS as among the politically conservative organizations intensively and successfully lobbying for federal funding for programs which emphasize "traditional American history, free institutions or Western civilization". The Times reported that NAS and allied organizations sought to advance conservative causes by attaching conditions to university donations.[2]

In January 2013 the Center for the Study of the Curriculum, along with NAS's affiliate the Texas Association of Scholars, released a report, Recasting History, on U.S. history courses taught in the Fall 2010 semester at the University of Texas and Texas A&M University, which criticized the weight that the courses gave to race, class, or gender.[19][20] After the report's release, Jeremi Suri, the Mack Brown Distinguished Professor for Global Leadership, History, and Public Policy at UT-Austin, called the report "misleading, and frankly dumb".[21] Writing in The Alcalde, the official alumni magazine, Suri defended the University of Texas's course offerings, saying, "What we are teaching at UT, in almost all of our history and related courses, is a plural history of how many different people and parts of America relate to one another. What we are teaching is the beauty, the color, the promise, and also the challenge of contemporary America."[21]

In April 2013, NAS released What Does Bowdoin Teach? How a Contemporary Liberal Arts College Shapes Students, which criticized Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine for employing too few conservatives, as well as for its endorsements multiculturalism and sustainability and for its anti-hazing rules.[22][23] Writing in the Bowdoin Sun (the college's official newspaper) Bowdoin president Barry Mills called the report "mean-spirited and personal".[24][22]

NAS is a member of the advisory board of Project 2025,[25] a collection of conservative and right-wing policy proposals from the Heritage Foundation to reshape the United States federal government and consolidate executive power should the Republican nominee win the 2024 presidential election.[26]

## Academic Questions

[edit]

This section relies excessively on references to primary sources. Please improve this section by adding secondary or tertiary sources. (November 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

Academic QuestionsDiscipline| Higher education

|

Language| English
Edited by| Peter Wood
Publication details
History| 1987–present
Publisher|

Springer Science+Business Media on behalf of the National Association of Scholars

Frequency| Quarterly
Standard abbreviations
ISO 4 (alt) * Bluebook (alt)
NLM (alt) * MathSciNet (alt )
ISO 4| Acad. Quest.
Indexing
CODEN (alt * alt2) * JSTOR (alt) * LCCN (alt)
MIAR * NLM (alt) * Scopus
CODEN| ACQUEO
ISSN| 0895-4852 (print)
1936-4709 (web)

LCCN| 88649846
OCLC no.| 260176958
Links

* Journal homepage
* Online access

The NAS's quarterly journal, Academic Questions, publishes articles and interviews on higher education, with a focus on examining issues that arise from the interplay among politics, ideology, scholarship, and teaching in higher education.[27] Academic Questions describes itself as "a journal dedicated to strengthening the integrity of scholarship and teaching."[28]

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Including both active and associate members.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "National Association of Scholars" (PDF). Foundation Center. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
2. ^ a b c Cohen, Patricia (September 21, 2008). "Conservatives Try New Tack on Campuses". The New York Times. Retrieved September 22, 2008.
3. ^ a b c Curtin, Dave (8 April 2001). "CU dean resigns, rips state". The Denver Post. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
4. ^ a b c Elson, John (1 April 2001). "Academics in Opposition". Time. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
5. ^ a b c d Campbell, Bob (24 May 2001). "State Education Commission Coming Under Fire". Colorado Springs Independent. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
6. ^ "Overview". National Association of Scholars. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
7. ^ Wilson, John (1996). The Myth of Political Correctness. Duke University. ISBN 978-0-8223-1713-5.
8. ^ "Staff & Board". National Association of Scholars. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
9. ^ "Affiliates". National Association of Scholars. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
10. ^ Flint, Anthony (12 April 1994), "Anti-PC activists trade war stories at Harvard", Boston Globe, p. 22.
11. ^ a b c "Buying a Movement: Conservative University Programs and Academic Associations" (PDF). People for the American Way. Retrieved May 7, 2010.
12. ^ "Sustainability Report". National Association of Scholars. March 2015. p. 10.
13. ^ Goldberg, David Theo (1994). Multiculturalism : a critical reader. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-63118911-4. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
14. ^ Feldstein, Richard (1997). Political correctness : a response from the cultural Left. Minneapolis University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978-0-81662475-1. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
15. ^ Weisberg, Jacob. "NAS – Who are These Guys Anyway?" Lingua Franca Apr. 1991: 34–39
16. ^ Getman, Julius. In the Company of Scholars: the Struggle for the Soul of Higher Education. Austin: University of Texas P, 1992.
17. ^ "Duke Scholars' Group, Accused of Bias, Divides Faculty". The New York Times. October 21, 1990. Retrieved June 4, 2008.
18. ^ Kilson Jr., Martin L. (11 December 1990). "Keep the National Association of Scholars Away From Harvard". The Harvard Crimson. Archived from the original on 5 April 2014. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
19. ^ "Recasting History". NAS.
20. ^ "An Undisciplined Report on the Teaching of History". The Chronicle of Higher Education. 28 January 2013. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
21. ^ a b Suri, Jeremi (2013-01-10). "What Kind of History Should We Teach?". The Alcalde.
22. ^ a b Russell Globe, Jenna. "Bowdoin president defends school after report - The Boston Globe". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
23. ^ "The Bowdoin Project". NAS.
24. ^ Mills, Barry. "Setting the Record Straight". Bowdoin Daily Sun.
25. ^ "Advisory Board". The Heritage Foundation. Archived from the original on November 19, 2023. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
26. ^ Mascaro, Lisa (August 29, 2023). "Conservative Groups Draw Up Plan to Dismantle the US Government and Replace It with Trump's Vision". Associated Press News. Archived from the original on September 22, 2023. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
27. ^ "About Us". National Association of Scholars. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
28. ^ "Academic Questions". Link. Springer.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* "National Association of Scholars". Internal Revenue Service filings. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF

National|

* United States
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Other|

* IdRef

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