Atlas Shrugged, required reading

A gift by a large business to colleges comes with a stipulation that Ayn Rand's libertarian opus, "Atlas Shrugged" will be required reading. I think this is great. I have a few more libertarian books that should be required reading for high school seniors and colleges student.

Liberal college professors resent being told they have to teach capitalism. They will take the money though, only to teach capitalism as a negative, and pick apart Rand's opus. That Rand was also an atheist makes her an enemy even to many capitalist.

Do universities teach capitalism as much as they teach socialism? It's been a long time since I was in college, so I don't know. Of course, our education system itself is very socialistic.

The authors of this blog say college professors are more leftists and politically correct.
http://www.becker-posner-blog.com/archives/2007/10/intellectuals_f.html

Charles Tolleson

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http://www.wral.com/news/state/story/2692047/BB&T Gifts With Ayn Rand Requirements Draw Criticism at Schools By PAM KELLEY AND CHRISTINA REX RODE The Charlotte Observer
Posted: Apr. 6, 2008

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - As a college student in Chapel Hill, John Allison stumbled across a collection of essays by Ayn Rand and was hooked by her philosophy of self-interest and limited government. As he rose over the decades to chief executive of BB&T, one of the country's leading regional banks, Rand remained his muse.

The Charlotte Observer reports that he's trying to replicate that encounter through the charitable arm of his Winston-Salem-based company, which since 1999 has awarded more than $28 million to 27 colleges to support the study of capitalism from a moral perspective.

But on at least 17 of those campuses, including UNC Charlotte, North Carolina State and Johnson C. Smith University, the gifts come with an unusual stipulation: Rand's novel, "Atlas Shrugged," is included in a course as required reading.

The schools' agreements have drawn criticism from some faculty, who say it compromises academic integrity. In higher education, the power to decide course content is supposed to rest with professors, not donors. Debate about the gifts, which arose at UNCC in March, illustrates tensions that exist over corporate influence on college campuses.

UNCC received its $1 million gift pledge in 2005, but details about the "Atlas Shrugged" requirement came to light as the school dedicated an Ayn Rand reading room March 12.