President Ruth Simmons was thinking about intellectual diversity "long before she came to Brown," according to her assistant, Marisa Quinn, and in January she announced the creation of a fund dedicated specifically to that goal. The recently named Kaleidoscope Fund has been initially financed with $100,000 of Simmons' discretionary budget to pay for speakers Simmons deems will increase intellectual diversity at Brown.
Simmons initially announced the fund at her Spring Semester Opening Address in January. Conservative author Dinesh D'Souza was the first speaker brought to campus with money from the Kaleidoscope Fund. His March lecture, titled "In Defense of American Empire," was sponsored by the Brown College Republicans but financed primarily by the Kaleidoscope Fund.
Speakers supported by the fund must be of "general interest" and "valid experts" in their subject areas, Simmons wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. "The point is that we should not apply a political or ideological litmus test," she said. "We will check to see that each lecturer is in fact one who has rigorously developed their perspective and submitted it to public criticism."
The Kaleidoscope Fund is independent from the Lecture Board, a student group that aims to "provide the University community with speakers who initiate thoughtful challenge and insight that complement the academic, extra-curricular and developmental elements of the Brown experience," according to its Web site. In past years, the Lecture Board has sponsored lectures by Salman Rushdie, Oliver Stone, Ralph Nader, Spike Lee and Ben Stein.
But speakers paid for by the Kaleidoscope Fund should provide something that isn't already available on campus, according to Quinn. "I think the president created this fund to spark and cultivate discussion on a wide variety of issues," she said.
Simmons said she hopes to eventually be able to raise money for an ongoing support of this effort.
Though Quinn will be the facilitator of the fund, "(Simmons) will ultimately be the one reviewing proposals. This is really her idea and her interest," Quinn said.
Simmons' discretionary funds are made up in part from donations from parties interested in making sure that "presidents can be flexible and address needs as they arise," Quinn said.
