National Association of Scholars Cheer CUNY Changes, Decry Affirmative Action During Conference
By Ronald Roach

New York
Although members of the
National Association of Scholars (NAS) consider the elimination of open admissions at the 11 senior colleges in the City University of New York system a victory in view of the group's conservative mission, speakers and panelists at the group's ninth annual conference in New York City largely
explored challenges to the NAS agenda.
Meeting in Manhattan last month, the NAS, a 4,300-member organization known for its opposition to race-conscious affirmative action, played host to roughly 300 people at its
conference.
"Things have not gotten better. They have gotten worse," declared Dr. Alan Charles Kors, a University of Pennsylvania history professor and a NAS founding member. Kors, the recipient of the NAS's Barry R. Gross award at this year's meeting, stirred conference attendees with a denunciation of politically correct campus administrators and faculty chiefs he believes suppress the free speech and academic freedom of dissenting faculty.
"We now have judicial systems [on campuses] that are kangaroo courts," Kors said. 
Highlighting the theme of "Taking Measure: Higher Education at the Turn of The Century," the three-day NAS conference examined topics, such as the academic consequences of the consumer-driven university, civic culture, education school reform, academic reform at City University of New York and affirmative action.
NAS defines itself as an "academic organization dedicated to the restoration of intellectual substance, individual merit and academic freedom in the university." 
Though acknowledging mounting challenges to the NAS agenda, NAS members and officials talked positively about achievements and proclaimed their determination to see their organization proceed in the coming years.
"I think we have an opportunity to be a real influence. There are people in higher education policymaking who listen to us," says Dr. Stephen Balch, president of the NAS. "We have a lot of high-level contacts. And I'm hopeful we'll have affiliations with people in the Bush administration."
NAS members were optimistic that the organization founded in 1987, has indirectly spurred the launch of other conservative higher education groups, such as the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, and the Association of Literary Scholars and Critics.
"I think one of the achievements of NAS is that spin-off organizations have emerged. There are more voices out here pushing for academic standards," says Dr. William Donoghue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights and a NAS member.
The group also celebrated "academic reform" in the City University of New York system with officials citing elimination of remediation education in the CUNY senior colleges as a restoration of academic standards. Herman Badillo, chairman of the City University of New York (CUNY) system trustee board, thanked the NAS for its assistance in helping CUNY trustees push through measures ending CUNY's systemwide open admissions policy and eliminating remediation education in all but CUNY's community colleges.