IT STARTS WITH THE MOST IMPORTANT THING UNIVERSITIES CAN OFFER...:

It is possible today, for the first time in generations, to build a new university to compete with top schools -- one that attracts the most talented young people in the world and empowers them to pursue truth and innovation. We can, today, found a university that will prepare a new generation of leaders to think for themselves about all sides of an issue, speak truth to power, and take power back from ideologues.

I've spent my entire adult life founding and helping build mission-driven companies to provide long-term value to our society, and I've made a great deal of money by doing so. This year, I'm embarking on a very different type of venture, a philanthropic one that many have told me is crazy, but grounded in the same long-term mindset: founding The University of Austin.

The University of Austin is, at its heart, a project based on optimism. By getting the values, incentives, and interdisciplinary structure right from the beginning, we can restore the classically liberal university and the enlightenment values that made our civilization what it is. We can show off something so compelling that it inspires a revival of the values of free inquiry and pluralism, not just in one new university, but in hundreds of universities. And when we do, we can reclaim the civilizational achievements that come from the open competition of ideas.

As we advance in science and technology and better understand our world and ourselves, we can partner with entrepreneurs to help billions live longer and more prosperous lives. We can find the best ways to protect our natural environment. We can help our fellow citizens find meaning in work and in life. Above all, an open debate will help us to preserve the good governance and checks on power, embodied in the American founding, that make us free.

I am an optimist on humanity, on innovation, on America, on our civilization. But optimism without action is just wishful thinking. Zero-sum thinkers and pessimists have captured too many of our institutions. It's up to us - especially those of us with the resources to do so -- to build new institutions that reflect the principles that we want to define the future. For me, there is nothing more important than making sure that future generations are equipped with the requisite knowledge, virtue, and responsibility to be stewards of a free society.

It's time to build America's next great university. I am lucky to be joined in this herculean task by dozens of courageous men and women, not least my fellow founders Pano Kanelos, Bari Weiss, Heather Heying, and Niall Ferguson; faculty fellows including Peter Boghossian, Kathleen Stock, Ayaan Hirsi Ali; and advisors including Robert Zimmer, Steven Pinker, Jonathan Haidt, Glenn Loury, Tyler Cowen, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Deirdre McCloskey, David Mamet, Sohrab Ahmari, Caitlin Flanagan and many more.

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