Building a Counter-Academy: How the American Right Has Launched (and Captured) Colleges to Contest “Liberal Ideology”

For decades, conservative activists, donors, lawmakers, and media figures have argued that U.S. higher education tilts left. In the 2010s–2020s, that critique hardened into an explicit strategy: create new institutions, stand up “centers” and “schools” inside public universities, and in some cases, remake existing campuses—all marketed as restoring “intellectual diversity,” “Western civilization,” or “civics.” Below is a reported map of that build-out, followed by solutions that could reduce partisan capture from any side.

The landscape at a glance

• Overhauls of public institutions by political appointees. Florida’s New College of Florida is the most dramatic case, where Gov. Ron DeSantis installed new trustees (including activist strategists) to pivot the school toward a Hillsdale-style “classical” model and to scrap programs like Gender Studies. (Florida Governor's Office, Vanity Fair, AP News, Inside Higher Ed)
• New “civics” or “classical” schools inside flagships. Florida, Texas, North Carolina, Arizona, and Tennessee have all created or expanded such units via boards or legislatures—often with explicit conservative backers and talking points. Examples include UF’s Hamilton Center, UT-Austin’s Civitas/School of Civic Leadership, UNC’s School of Civic Life and Leadership (SCiLL), ASU’s School of Civic & Economic Thought and Leadership, and UT-Knoxville’s Institute of American Civics. (University of Florida News, Inside Higher Ed, Houston Chronicle, Axios, Board of Trustees, scetl.asu.edu, Arizona Capitol Times, Tennessee General Assembly)
• Private start-ups pitched as “anti-woke” alternatives. University of Austin (UATX) launched with a cast of high-profile anti-“woke” writers and investors; Ralston College tapped Jordan Peterson as chancellor; Thales College markets a no-accreditation, low-cost classical model. (University of Austin, blog.joelonsdale.com, Wikipedia, ralston.ac, thalescollege.org)
• Long-standing conservative colleges as models and partners. Hillsdale College (which rejects federal funds) is repeatedly cited by policymakers as a template; Patrick Henry College was built to pipeline devout, conservative graduates into public life. (The New Yorker, Tampa Bay Times, Wikipedia, Patrick Henry College)
• Donor-driven rebrands and centers. George Mason University renamed its law school for Justice Scalia after a $30M gift tied to the Koch network; CU Boulder’s Benson Center hosts a “Visiting Scholar in Conservative Thought,” drawing controversy around figures like John Eastman. (TIME, Inside Higher Ed, University of Colorado Boulder)

Institutions created or politically remade (with who spearheaded them)

This is a reported—but not exhaustive—inventory of institutions founded or reshaped explicitly to counter a perceived liberal tilt. “Spearheaded by” names the key political leaders, donors, trustees or founders who drove the effort.

What the playbook looks like

1. Leverage governance and law. Appoint sympathetic trustees, write enabling statutes, and appropriate funds to create “civics/classical” units—sometimes outside normal faculty governance. (Florida, Texas, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arizona). (Florida Governor's Office, University of Florida News, Inside Higher Ed, Board of Trustees, Tennessee General Assembly)
2. Narrative: “intellectual diversity” and “Western civilization.” Centers promise robust debate but are often championed by the same network of activists, think tanks, and donors who brand mainstream campuses as “uniform.” (Inside Higher Ed, American Enterprise Institute)
3. Model institutions. Hillsdale and Patrick Henry provide philosophical and fundraising blueprints (e.g., refusing federal funds, building Great Books cores, cultivating political pipelines). Policymakers explicitly cite them as templates. (The New Yorker, Tampa Bay Times)
4. New privates with culture-war branding. UATX, Ralston, Thales market themselves as havens from “illiberal” or “woke” campuses—often backed by media personalities and tech/finance donors. (University of Austin, ralston.ac, thalescollege.org)
5. Donor leverage. From the Scalia Law renaming to Arizona’s Freedom Center, big gifts sometimes came with attempted say over hiring or programming, which has triggered transparency reforms. (Inside Higher Ed, azcir.org)

Why it matters

• Academic freedom & governance. Board- or legislature-driven creations—especially when launched outside faculty channels—risk subordinating curriculum and hiring to partisan priorities. The New College case shows how quickly programs, presidents, and tenure decisions can be reversed by political boards. (Vanity Fair, AP News)
• Public trust. Proponents say these efforts increase viewpoint diversity; critics see state-sponsored ideologysubstituting one orthodoxy for another. Either way, the speed and style of the changes have intensified polarization on campus. (Inside Higher Ed)

Solutions (to de-politicize higher ed from any direction)

1. Sunshine on money & MOUs. Require public posting of all donor agreements and center charters for public institutions; prohibit clauses giving donors a say in hiring, curriculum, or governance. (GMU’s 2018 revelations show why transparency matters.) (Inside Higher Ed)
2. Faculty governance guardrails. Write into state law and board policy that any new school/center must pass faculty curriculum committees, with public votes and timelines—before regents act. UNC’s SCiLL saga underscores the need. (Board of Trustees)
3. Balanced oversight commissions. Create independent, bipartisan state panels (with faculty, students, employers, and accreditors) to review major structural changes at public universities for academic integrity, not ideology.
4. Accreditor checks. Direct accreditors to audit political interference risks (e.g., trustee micromanagement, hiring vetoes) just as they audit financial controls.
5. Pluralism with parity. If legislatures fund “civics/classical” schools, require pluralist staffing and programming by statute (e.g., rotating endowed chairs representing distinct schools of thought; transparent hiring rubrics).
6. Student and parent tools. Mandate syllabus and speaker-funding disclosure, so students can see who pays and decide for themselves.
7. Diversify the pipeline. Encourage multiple models of new colleges—religious, secular, civic-tech, labor studies—tethered to strong academic standards and governance, rather than one party’s canon.

Method note

This inventory focuses on explicitly right-aligned creations or political remakes since ~2000, plus older model institutions repeatedly invoked by current policymakers. It excludes ordinary endowed centers and most faith-based colleges unless they’re prominent in the current “counter-academy” strategy.

References (selected)

• New College of Florida overhaul — Governor’s appointments; reporting on aims/actions. (Florida Governor's Office, Vanity Fair, AP News, Inside Higher Ed)
• UF Hamilton Center — created by the Florida Legislature (2022); leadership and mission. (University of Florida News, Inside Higher Ed)
• FIU Adam Smith Center — established by state legislation and governor; mission and funding. (freedom.fiu.edu, FIU News, Miami Herald)
• UT-Austin Civitas / School of Civic Leadership — origin, backers, funding, expansion. (Inside Higher Ed, Houston Chronicle, Axios, The Austin Chronicle)
• UNC SCiLL — trustee-led resolution by chair David Boliek. (Board of Trustees, The News & Observer)
• ASU SCETL / AZ “freedom schools” — legislative funding and purpose. (scetl.asu.edu, azcir.org)
• UA Freedom Center / PEMS — donor roles and governance concerns; official materials. (azcir.org, The Daily Wildcat, Faculty Governance)
• UATX — founders and timeline. (University of Austin)
• Ralston College — leadership and Jordan Peterson appointment. (Wikipedia, ralston.ac)
• Thales College — founding and anti-accreditation positioning. (thalescollege.org)
• Patrick Henry College — mission and founder. (Patrick Henry College)
• Hillsdale as model — refusal of federal funds; cited by officials as template. (Hillsdale College, The New Yorker, Tampa Bay Times)
• GMU Scalia Law — $30M renaming gift; donor-agreement oversight issues. (TIME, Inside Higher Ed)
• CU Boulder Benson Center — mission and “Conservative Thought” program. (University of Colorado Boulder)
• Vanity Fair
• AP News
• Houston Chronicle
• Axios
• TIME