Via Radley Balko at Reason comes this NPR story:

Since 2005, the BB&T Charitable Foundation has given 25 colleges and universities several million dollars to start programs devoted to the study of Rand’s books and economic philosophy. In January, the company announced it was donating $1 million to Marshall University in West Virginia.

The “programs” include courses, not just extra-curricular activities.

Balko doesn’t have a problem with it (“Hell, my alma mater had classes on pornography, the Beatles, and the music of Frank Zappa”), and I’m sympathetic to that — any funding that doesn’t come from tuition or taxes is a good thing, and there’s nothing wrong with studying Ayn Rand.

What I wonder, though, is (A) how many college courses are funded by people with political agendas, (B) is there any attempt to strike a balance between funders’ views, and (C) is the funding disclosed to students? I’m not sure the Right or Left wants to start a bidding war for the soul of higher ed (OK, maybe it would give the Right a better shot than it has now), and letting activists buy courses can get things started down that road.