Sun Myung Moon It was described by "The New York Times" as the top ballet company in Asia. In 1989, Moon founded Universal Ballet Academy which changed its name later to Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, D.C. Moon held honorary degrees from more than ten universities and colleges worldwide; at least one of which, the University of Bridgeport, received significant funding from his organizations. He was a member of the Honorary Committee of the Unification Ministry of the Republic of Korea. In 1985, he and his wife received Doctor of Divinity degrees from Shaw University. In 2004, at event in the Dirksen
Unification Church of the United States success, the "Times" was well-read in conservative and anti-communist circles and was credited by President Ronald Reagan with helping to win the Cold War. In 1983 church members publicly protested against the Soviet Union over its shooting down of Korean Airlines Flight 007. In 1984, church member Dan Fefferman founded the International Coalition for Religious Freedom in Virginia, which is active in protesting what it considers to be threats to religious freedom by governmental agencies. In 1986 conservative author William Rusher wrote: "The members the Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church, now almost universally referred to as 'Moonies,' constitute a