From the Academy

They’re Not So Sharp at Oakland

Last year a college for sharp students was opened in Oakland County, Michigan, at a country estate given to Michigan State University. The large and well-financed public-relations office of MSU turned out reams of publicity, some of which was taken seriously by Time. High intellectual standards were to be expected at the Oakland branch, President Hannah of MSU declared, and a keen-minded faculty would be recruited. Entre nous, the establishment of this branch was part of the war between the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) and Michigan State (East Lansing), recklessly competing for the larger enrollments and the more lavish appropriations from the state legislature. No demarcation of function now exists between the two vast state universities, and the Oakland campus is much closer to Ann Arbor than it is to its parent institution.

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Russell Kirk

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They’re Not So Sharp at Oakland

Last year a college for sharp students was opened in Oakland County, Michigan, at a country estate given to Michigan State University. The large and well-financed public-relations office of MSU turned out reams of publicity, some of which was taken seriously by Time. High intellectual standards were to be expected at the Oakland branch, President Hannah of MSU declared, and a keen-minded faculty would be recruited. Entre nous, the establishment of this branch was part of the war between the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) and Michigan State (East Lansing), recklessly competing for the larger enrollments and the more lavish appropriations from the state legislature. No demarcation of function now exists between the two vast state universities, and the Oakland campus is much closer to Ann Arbor than it is to its parent institution.