The Chancellor for the University of Colorado has recently proposed raising money for what some see as a rather peculiar position:

Chancellor G.P. "Bud" Peterson surveys this landscape with unease. A college that champions diversity, he believes, must think beyond courses in gay literature, Chicano studies and feminist theory. "We should also talk about intellectual diversity," he says. So over the next year, Mr. Peterson plans to raise $9 million to create an endowed chair for what is thought to be the nation's first Professor of Conservative Thought and Policy.

And in a move that might garner me a position as a columnist for Frontpagemag.com, I actually agree with David Horowitz on this point:

While he approves of efforts to bolster a conservative presence on campus, Mr. Horowitz fears that setting up a token right-winger as The Conservative at Boulder will brand the person as a curiosity, like "an animal in the zoo."

Peterson's proposal seems to potentially institutionalize the very problem about which Horowitz and others complain - the politicization of the hiring process.  Rather than hiring someone on the basis of their scholarship, teaching, and service, CU is seeking to create a position to be awarded to someone on the basis of their political views. 

Of course, it should be noted that it's Horowitz and his cadre's over-simplistic view of intellectual diversity (taking head-counts of faculty voter registration, for example) that directly leads to these sorts of proposals in the first place.

Now, there's absolutely nothing wrong with academic departments seeking to hire specialists in conservative thought or who hold a conservative perspective.  Many routinely do.  Economics departments advertise positions for experts on free markets.  Political science departments look for specialists on the post-war conservative movement.  Sociology departments seek those who work in the vein of Talcott Parsons' structural functionalism.

The problem lies in going outside the traditional academic structure in order to provide what can only be viewed as an affirmative action program for conservatives.  While Peterson claims that it's not necessary that an actual conservative scholar hold the position of Professor of Conservative Thought and Policy, the names being floated as potential candidates for the $200K position (Condoleezza Rice, George Will, and Philip Zelikow are mentioned in the WSJ article) seem to belie this sentiment.