AALE Holds Annual Elections

Annual elections were held at the June 2025 Board meeting. Board of Trustees members Geoff Baum, Senior Policy Fellow at USC Center on Communication, Leadership and Policy, Los Angeles (CA) was elected to a third 4-year term and Dale Larson, Senior Advisor for Finance and Auditing at the Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas (TX) was elected to a fifth 4-year term. Robert Manzer was reappointed as President. Benjamin Storey, Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, Washington, DC was newly elected to serve a 4-year term.  

Benjamin Storey is a Senior Fellow in Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) where he focuses on the culture of higher education, the nature of liberal and civic education and efforts to enhance viewpoint diversity on college and university campuses. Prior to AEI, Benjamin served as Research Professor and Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Furman University. Benjamin is the coauthor of Why We Are Restless: On the Modern Quest for Contentment

He has a PhD and MA from the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago and a BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

AALE President on Accreditation Reform

At the March 2025 Board of Trustees meeting, President Robert Manzer reported on his most recent contribution to the on-going national conversation on post-secondary accreditation reform. Manzer informed the Board that his paper, “Depoliticizing the University: Reprioritizing Academic Excellence in Faculty Governance and Accreditation,” was due for release by the American Enterprise Institute at the end of March. In the report, Manzer argues that, “rather than trying to replace faculty governance, accreditors should focus on strengthening it by setting clear, well-designed standards and expectations. Supporting—not supplanting—faculty is essential to restoring academic excellence.”