New York – The Manhattan Institute, a prominent conservative think tank, has released "The Manhattan Statement on Higher Education" on July 15, 2025, calling for significant reforms within American universities. The statement, signed by over forty academic leaders, asserts that higher education institutions have strayed from their foundational principles, becoming overly ideological and losing public trust. This initiative follows a recent poll conducted by the Institute, which indicated widespread public concern regarding the direction of universities.
The Institute's survey, conducted between June 10 and June 13, 2025, among 2,000 registered voters, found that only 20% of respondents held a "great deal" of trust in public colleges and universities. Even less, 15%, expressed high trust in Ivy League institutions. According to the Manhattan Institute, this declining confidence stems from a perceived shift towards ideologies that "corrupt knowledge" rather than pursuing truth.
Christopher F. Rufo, a senior fellow and director of the Initiative on Critical Race Theory at the Manhattan Institute, is a key figure behind this reform push. The statement proposes six core principles for reform: prioritizing truth over ideology, maintaining institutional neutrality, ensuring colorblind equality, upholding free speech, fostering civil discourse, and promoting administrative transparency. These principles aim to restore integrity and public confidence in higher education.
The "Logos Initiative," also spearheaded by the Manhattan Institute, seeks to expose perceived corruption within American institutions and mobilize public opinion for cultural and policy reforms. The Institute argues that recent events, including the George Floyd riots and the "celebration of the Hamas terror campaign," have exposed the "animating spirit" of higher education as "racialism, ideology, chaos."
The Manhattan Institute, established in 1978, focuses on domestic policy and urban affairs, producing research and publications like City Journal. Its latest higher education reform agenda seeks to leverage broad public support for change, advocating for a new "contract with the universities" to address what it identifies as a crisis in American academia.