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Boise State To Launch 'Institute For Advancing American Values' After Legislative Pushback

Boise State University President Marlene Tromp is sitting at a desk talking into a microphone in the studio at Boise State Public Radio.
James Dawson
/
Boise State Public Radio

This year, Boise State University faced calls to cut millions of dollars of state funding to the school over allegations it indoctrinates students with leftist values.

The school is responding by establishing the Institute for Advancing American Values.

Boise State President Marlene Tromp said the school is launching the institute after what she calls a “tumultuous” year in which people said universities aren’t balanced politically.

“We invite people to learn and grow. We are going to model a healthy dialogue on our campus between all those voices for the benefit of our state,” Tromp said.

She spent less than a minute unveiling the institute and gave few details in her annual state of the university address at the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce.

“We’ve become so polarized that people aren’t in dialogue with each other ... we think if we can walk towards those (controversial) things, we’ll actually find that there are places where we have thinking in common, values in common, ideas in common,” she later told the Idaho Statesman.

State lawmakers blasted Boise State this year and cut its budget by $1.5 million. Many said the university shut out conservative thought and promoted social justice initiatives instead.

The school denies this and no evidence backs up claims of widespread indoctrination.

Tromp told the Statesman the institute will launch in the fall and will eventually be staffed by faculty and researchers.

Editor’s note: Boise State University holds the broadcast license for Boise State Public Radio, but our coverage remains editorially independent.

Follow James Dawson on Twitter @RadioDawson for more local news.

Copyright 2021 Boise State Public Radio

I cover politics and a bit of everything else for Boise State Public Radio. Outside of public meetings, you can find me fly fishing, making cool things out of leather or watching the Seattle Mariners' latest rebuilding season. If you have a tip, please get in touch!

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