How Art Pope’s money shaped UNC’s toxic debate over Nikole Hannah-Jones

Pope’s John Locke Foundation and Martin Center are also members of the State Policy Network (SPN), a national alliance of conservative think tanks. The Center for Media and Democracy describes SPN as “the tip of the spear of far-right, nationally funded policy agenda in the states that undergirds extremists in the Republican Party.” SPN member groups, it says, “operate as the policy, communications, and litigation arm of the American Legislative Exchange Council,” referring to the politically influential nonprofit that brings together conservative state lawmakers and corporate interests to promote pro-business legislation.