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 I know that I said I was moving over to pbradley.philosophyteachers.org, but this story has got my blood pressure so high, I’m just posting it everywhere I can:

The Smoky Mountain News is carrying a story about Western Carolina University’s internal struggle over a $1 million donation from BB&T that was contingent on the teaching of Ayn Rand! Darryl Hale, a professor of philosophy there, is quoted in this article as the informal leader of the resistance. Here it is:

Who controls what’s taught? Donation sparks debate over academic integrity

Interestingly, the same newspaper is also running an article explaining who Ayn Rand is:

Who is Ayn Rand?

The article claims that “More than 25 universities, including NC State and UNC-Charlotte, got a similar donation from the Winston-Salem-based BB&T Foundation.” I checked UNC, and found this press release:

Philosophy department benefits again from BB&T foundation’s support

The tell-tale language is in the 7th paragraph: “The second $1 million gift shares the goal of the first gift: to support visiting scholars who are experts in at least one of these areas: Aristotle and theories of human nature, ethics and economics, social and political philosophy, or objectivity and values” [italics mine] Can anyone guess what ‘objectivity’ is supposed to mean herein?