College Donors Want to Make Ayn Rand's 'Atlas Shrugged' Required Reading

A former chairman of a bank holding company loves Ayn Rand and is committed to spreading her philosophy? Color us shocked!

John Allison, chairman of BB&T Corp. turned business professor, is now working through the BB&T Charitable Foundation to offer schools multi-million dollar grants, so long as they create and offer a course on capitalism that features Rand's Atlas Shrugged as part of the course syllabus.

While it's pretty clear why a wealthy American businessman would want to spread the pro-capitalism, libertarian-esque philosophy that Rand hones in her hefty tome, it's a bit more surprising that colleges are actually agreeing to it.

Bloomberg reports that around "60 schools, including at least four campuses of the University of North Carolina, began teaching Rand's book after getting the foundation money."

Read more: [link to newsfeed.time.com]

Last Edited by DERAIL on 05/06/2011 06:20 PM