American Council of Trustees and Alumni

The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) is a non-profit organization whose stated mission is to "support liberal arts education, uphold high academic standards, safeguard the free exchange of ideas on campus, and ensure that the next generation receives a philosophically rich, high-quality college education at an affordable price." ACTA does so primarily by calling on trustees to take on a more assertive governing role. It is based in Washington, D.C. and its current president is Anne D. Neal.

History

ACTA was founded in 1995 as the National Alumni Forum by former National Endowment for the Humanities chairman Lynne V. Cheney, former University of Colorado at Boulder president and U.S. Senator Hank Brown, sociologist David Riesman, Nobel Laureate Saul Bellow, U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman, and others. With the exception of the current President, Anne D. Neal, all those who were involved in ACTA’s founding have since retired. In 1996, the organization changed its name to the American Council of Trustees and Alumni. Jerry L. Martin, a former Philosophy professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder, was president from the founding until 2003 when Neal took over.

Organization Objectives

ACTA’s stated goals are to promote academic freedom, academic excellence, and accountability in higher education. In practice, ACTA argues for a...
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