Reforming the Academy

Chicago

Turning his gaze from one nearly hopeless situation to another, John Silber took an evening off from contemplating the Massachusetts political scene this April in order to address the Philadelphia Society on “The Trouble with the Academy.” Mr. Silber made his apologies gracefully, after Aristotle: “I am running for governor to avoid being governed by somebody less competent than I am.” The academy, he said, moving to his topic, was better off than in 1970, but “remarkably deteriorated” from, say, 1950. Today the hot war of campus radicalism of Vietnam days has given way to “something like a cold war.” The threat is from within. In such cases as Dartmouth vs. the Dartmouth Review, Wellesley vs. Mrs. Bush (for being a good mother and a loyal wife), and Stanford’s “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Western culture’s gotta go,” radical professors are using their protected positions to destroy the very basis of a university.

TW

About the Author

Tim Wheeler

Chicago

Turning his gaze from one nearly hopeless situation to another, John Silber took an evening off from contemplating the Massachusetts political scene this April in order to address the Philadelphia Society on “The Trouble with the Academy.” Mr. Silber made his apologies gracefully, after Aristotle: “I am running for governor to avoid being governed by somebody less competent than I am.” The academy, he said, moving to his topic, was better off than in 1970, but “remarkably deteriorated” from, say, 1950. Today the hot war of campus radicalism of Vietnam days has given way to “something like a cold war.” The threat is from within. In such cases as Dartmouth vs. the Dartmouth Review, Wellesley vs. Mrs. Bush (for being a good mother and a loyal wife), and Stanford’s “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Western culture’s gotta go,” radical professors are using their protected positions to destroy the very basis of a university.