Harvard Students Seek ‘Viewpoint Diversity’ Outside the School’s Gates

One of the most debated issues in higher education today is whether there is room on campus for conservative voices and diverse viewpoints.

Just steps from Harvard Yard, a group has been trying to create that space for years. It hosts reading groups focused on the Western canon. And it has brought in speakers like Peter Thiel, the conservative billionaire, and Adrian Vermeule, a Harvard law professor who has supported the idea of a worldwide Catholic theocracy.

The catch? It is not a part of Harvard.

The Abigail Adams Institute is an independent institute that is part of a broader network of about a dozen centers located near elite universities, including Yale, Princeton and Stanford. The goal is to create an intellectual community that supplements what students can find on their own campuses.

The institute’s director said recent national and international turbulence has led more students to come to its events (a recent talk was standing room only). At a time when Harvard is under scrutiny by Republicans who argue its campus leans left, students involved with the institute say it is serving up information and discussions that can be hard to find in university classrooms.

A perception among conservatives that their views are excluded on elite university campuses has become one of the points of contention in an ongoing battle between Harvard and the Trump administration. The federal government has demanded that Harvard submit to an external review of its disciplines for “viewpoint diversity” and an audit of hiring practices to make sure departments were not using “ideological litmus tests,” among other things.

Harvard has refused, suing the government after it threatened to slash federal grants in an effort to force compliance.