And then there’s my own experience. As a freshman at Penn, I became a member of the Intercollegiate Society of Individualists (now Intercollegiate Studies Institute or ISI) in the fall of 1960. For more than 45 years, I was continuously associated with the organization as an employee, donor, and trustee—until my own encounter with Political Correctness. In the spring of 2006, I was removed involuntarily from the board by a vote of 15 yea, 2 nay, and 2 abstentions. My infractions of orthodoxy involved delving into group differences and cognitive heritability.
I had known many of the hanging jury for going on half a century. Chief among them: then-Heritage Foundation president Ed Feulner, Dick Allen, Ken Cribb and the late Charlie Hoefflich. The others were the usual suspects: a politically connected DC lawyer, southern dilettante, sunshine general, a clutch of Beltway types, and a smattering of tenured academics. Of the lesser lights, our working relationship went back 15-25 years. (…)
To put into perspective, consider that in 2012 the Heritage raised $82,000,000.00, spent $80,000,000.00 and in 2011, the last year reported, its “rainy day” fund stood at $143,231,547.00 If, say, the courageous treatment of Dr. Richwine cost 10 percent in lost contributions, likely a high figure, the organization could tap its war chest and continue to spend at its present rate for 18 years.
