March 27, 2025
The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) received a grant in the amount of $50,000 from the Robin and Sandy Stuart Foundation. The funds will support the continued work of CIC’s Campus Free Expression Project (CFEP) and promote the use of its resources to strengthen free expression and foster civil discourse at CIC’s more than 600 member institutions, as well as public and private colleges and universities in the United States. The Robin and Sandy Stuart Foundation is a past supporter of the CFEP in its previous home at the Bipartisan Policy Center, and CIC is grateful for its continued investment in this work at CIC. The Robin and Sandy Stuart Foundation has a history of supporting CIC member institutions in addition to its new support of CIC.
Under the leadership of Jacqueline Pfeffer Merrill, the CFEP will use this philanthropic support to advise college and university leaders about consistent, principled approaches to rebuild a culture of intellectual and civic pluralism on campuses, offering guidance on producing policies, programs, and curricula to support a culture of free expression and academic freedom. The CFEP will also host a national symposium for faculty and administrators on teaching free expression principles and civil discourse skills in the classroom.
“The work of the CFEP is more needed than ever: fostering robust intellectual exchange and open inquiry is a core tenet of American higher education, but these principles have been sorely tested,” said CIC President Marjorie Hass about the value of this work in supporting CIC member institutions. “College leaders are seeking new approaches to navigate the changing collegiate landscape, and the CFEP brings trusted, tested approaches to meet these leadership needs.”
In addition to the new activities supported through this grant, CIC will continue to promote the new edition of the signature CFEP publication, Campus Free Expression: A New Roadmap. This Roadmap was produced by the Academic Leaders Task Force on Campus Free Expression, a group of academic leaders from a variety of public and private colleges and universities under the leadership of co-chairs Jim Douglas, former governor of Vermont and executive in residence at Middlebury College, and Chris Gregoire, former governor of Washington and CEO of Challenge Seattle. Through this resource and other activities and programs, the CFEP aims to restore a campus culture of open discourse and prepare students to be independent thinkers and engaged citizens.
About CIC
The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) is an association of more than 700 nonprofit independent colleges and universities, state-based councils of independent colleges, and other higher education affiliates, that works to support college and university leadership, advance institutional excellence, and enhance public understanding of independent higher education’s contributions to society. CIC is the major national organization that focuses on services to leaders of independent colleges and universities and state-based councils. CIC offers conferences, seminars, publications, and other programs and services that help independent institutions improve educational quality, administrative and financial performance, student outcomes, and institutional visibility. It conducts the largest annual conferences of college and university presidents and of chief academic officers in the United States. Founded in 1956, CIC is headquartered at One Dupont Circle in Washington, DC.
About the Robin and Sandy Stuart Foundation
The Robin and Sandy Stuart Foundation is based in Lake Forest, Illinois. Its areas of interest include improving educational outcomes for all, encouraging intellectual diversity on college campuses, strengthening civil discourse, promoting free enterprise, caring for the great outdoors, and supporting the arts as an essential part of the human experience.