David Horowitz - Biography

David Horowitz was one of the founders of the New Left in the 1960s and an editor of its largest magazine, "Ramparts." He has devoted much of his attention over the past several years to the radicalization of the American university.

He is a prolific writer, and covers many topics. He has written extensively on bias in universities: "Uncivil Wars" (2003); "The Professors: the 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America" (2006); "Indoctrination U." (2008); "One Party Classroom" (2009) and "Reforming Our Universities" (2010).

Horowitz has devoted much of his attention over the past several years to the radicalization of the American university. In 2003, he launched an academic freedom campaign to return the American university to traditional principles of open inquiry and to halt indoctrination in the classroom.

To further these goals he devised an Academic Bill of Rights to protect students from abusive professors. In the same year Horowitz founded Students for Academic Freedom (SAF), with chapters on 200 college campuses. Asserting that, "You can't get a good education if they're only telling you half the story," Horowitz called for inquiries into political bias in the hiring of faculty and the appointment of commencement speakers.

In three years Horowitz's campaign for academic freedom was able to make intellectual diversity and academic freedom front-burner issues on college campuses across the country.

In June 2005, in direct response to his campaign, the American Council on Education, which represents 2000 colleges and universities, called on its members to create grievance procedures for students who were politically harassed by their professors.

In July 2005 the Pennsylvania House of Representatives voted 111-87 to create a Select Committee on Academic Freedom, which then held hearings throughout the state, which lasted until June 2006. On July 19, 2006, the Temple University board of trustees adopted a new policy, which gave students academic freedom rights ­ the first university to do so.