The NSA is working to redeem itself in the hearts and minds of college students everywhere, but many hyper-paranoid individuals are attempting to ban the NSA from setting up outreach and recruiting plans on college campuses.

Courtney Such at The College Fix reports:

NSA Partners With Universities, ‘Model’ Legislation To Block Cooperation Fails

The National Security Agency, now defined largely by Edward Snowden’s revelations about its pervasive reach into every sphere of digital life, is aiming to put a positive light on its work by growing its educational presence in universities nationwide.

Five new universities were added to the NSA’s National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cyber Operations Program. New York University, Towson University, West Point, University of Cincinnati and University of New Orleans qualified to receive the designation for the 2014-2019 academic years, the NSA said last month.

The effort is designed “to reduce vulnerability in our national information infrastructure by promoting higher education and research in IA [information assurance] and producing a growing number of professionals with IA expertise in various disciplines,” the NSA said.

The program has stirred controversy, though.

Arizona State Sen. Kelli Ward, a Republican, introduced a bill to ban the NSA from recruiting at state university campuses, the Fourth Amendment Protection Act (SB-1156), as The College Fix reported in January. Arizona State and the University of Arizona both work with the NSA under the National Centers of Academic Excellence Program.

SB-1156, the first to be introduced based on model NSA legislation from the Tenth Amendment Center, was not approved before the Legislature adjourned for the year. An Arizona State law professor told the ASU State Press that the bill, which also bars state cooperation with the NSA in legal and financial matters, would violate the federal Supremacy Clause if enacted.

While several other states’ lawmakers have jumped on board, the model legislation has yet to be approved anywhere, according to the Tenth Amendment Center’s tally.