CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — One of the most debated issues in higher education today is whether there is room on campus for conservative voices and diverse viewpoints.

Just steps from Harvard Yard, a group has been trying to create that space for years. It hosts reading groups focused on the Western canon. And it has brought in speakers like Peter Thiel, the conservative billionaire, and Adrian Vermeule, a Harvard law professor who has supported the idea of a worldwide Catholic theocracy.

The catch? It is not a part of Harvard University .

The Abigail Adams Institute is an independent institute that is part of a broader network of about a dozen centers located near elite universities, including Yale, Princeton and Stanford. The goal is to create an intellectual community that supplements what

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