Boise State will launch new ‘American Values’ institute after ID lawmakers cut funding over leftist curriculum

After Boise State University and other Idaho schools implemented leftist academic theories into their pedagogy, lawmakers slashed their budgets by over $2 million. Now, Boise State is backtracking by launching an “Institute for Advancing American Values.”

In particular, lawmakers cut $1.5 million from Boise State’s annual budget.

“I think they should have cut more,” Boise State student Omar Elkhalil told Campus Reform. “There is a lot of indoctrination that some courses that we take try to show us. The only difference is in Idaho and at BSU they are subtle about it, but it is there and noticeable by people who follow politics.”

[RELATED: Idaho lawmakers slash university budget by over $2 million to ‘send a message’ about Critical Race Theory]

As Boise State University President Marlene Tromp announced in a State of the University address, the school decided to respond to the budget cuts by launching the “Institute for Advancing American Values.”

“Given this tumultuous year we’ve faced, where we’ve heard people say maybe universities don’t have the balance we need, we are launching the Institute for Advancing American Values,” Tromp explained. “American values are freedom of speech, free exchange of ideas. 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.”

“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,” Tromp told the Idaho Statesman in an interview.

[RELATED: Students at Christian university call on school to turn away from ‘falsehood’ that is Critical Race Theory]

Tromp is reportedly hopeful that the initiative will foster the free exchange of ideas.

“I think that it is a step in the right direction,” explained Tyler Rae Davenport, a former Boise State student, to Campus Reform. “BSU is becoming increasingly liberal, and it needs a balance so that both sides are accepted.”

The Institute for Advancing American Values is set to launch in the fall of 2021; it has already received an anonymous donation of $1 million.

Campus Reform reached out to Boise State University for comment; this article will be updated accordingly.

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