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Scott Walker emerging on the right as top government reform voice

Scott Walker, the onetime national Republican favorite ousted from the Wisconsin governor's mansion last year, has found another new political platform: He will be the figurehead for a new group that seeks promote government reform from the right.

The 18-month-old Institute for Reforming Government announced Monday that Walker will be its national honorary chairman as the group "seeks to simplify government at every level by offering policy solutions to thought leaders in American government in the areas of tax reform, government inefficiency, and burdensome regulations."


Since losing his bid for a third term last fall, the 52-year-old Walker has put together a portfolio of positions designed to keep him relevant in conservative governing circles. He is finance chairman of the National Republican Redistricting Trust, which will coordinate the party's redistricting strategy after the 2020 census, and national chairman of the Center for State-led National Debt Solutions, which is seeking to convene a constitutional convention with the aim of adding an amendment requiring a balanced federal budget.

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Entrance Sign at the University of Florida

Universities are embracing “institutional neutrality,” but at places like the University of Florida it’s becoming a tool to silence faculty and erode academic freedom.

Getty Images, Bryan Pollard

When Insisting on “Neutrality” Becomes a Gag Order

Universities across the country are adopting policies under the banner of “institutional neutrality,” which, at face value, sounds entirely reasonable. A university’s official voice should remain measured, cautious, and focused on its core mission regardless of which elected officials are in office. But two very different interpretations of institutional neutrality are emerging.

At places like the University of Wisconsin – Madison and Harvard, neutrality is applied narrowly and traditionally: the institution itself refrains from partisan political statements, while faculty leaders and scholars remain free to speak in their professional and civic capacities. Elsewhere, the same term is being applied far more aggressively — not to restrain institutions, but to silence individuals.

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