Koch-Supported Entity Helped Fund Controversial Speaker at Middlebury
A Virginia-based think tank heavily funded by billionaire Charles Koch is among the financial backers of a Middlebury College lecture series that reignited an intense debate about campus free speech this week.
Middlebury's Alexander Hamilton Forum was to host a public talk by conservative Polish politician and writer Ryszard Legutko on Wednesday. College administrators canceled the lecture, citing security worries, as protestors who branded Legutko a homophobe prepared to demonstrate.
The Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University helps fund the Alexander Hamilton Forum, the forum's director, Middlebury assistant professor Keegan Callanan, confirmed to Seven Days Friday. The Hamilton series is meant to broaden debate and inquiry at the highly selective private liberal arts college.
Callanan, via email, said the grant came entirely from the institute's free speech project, funded by the Asness Family Foundation. Clifford S. Asness is a billionaire hedge fund manager. All grants, including the ones for the Hamilton Forum, are reviewed by college officials, Callanan said.
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