In A Man for All Seasons, Thomas More is betrayed so that his protege may receive a post in Wales from the crown. More turns to his traitor in astonishment and quips, "It profits a man nothing to lose his soul for the whole world.... But for Wales?"
This was the first thing I thought of when I read about Cornerstone's egregious removal of humanities and liberal arts. "For the market?" You're willing to trade your soul to be market-aligned!? What balderdash! Do we not know yet that such changes are ridiculous? They signal the downfall of the university. It is becoming no more than a shadow of what it used to be. Universities without humanities and liberal arts are merely technical training grounds in disguise.
“Now more than ever, colleges must offer value and fiscal sustainability….” the Cornerstone President claims. What, pray tell, is this vague “value” you speak of? For you have eVALUated the VALUE of your amazing faculty as null and made education only VALUable in so far as its investment produces financial profits. If we judge all things by their pecuniary value, then vice is much more lucrative than virtue. The cause of Christ is not about cost at Cornerstone University but about banking. Bonhoeffer would be less than amused; he would be horrified.
The whole premise of “now more than ever” is preposterous. Only those without a knowledge of history and only eyes set upon the “now” may say such ludicrous things that follow that transitional phrase. But who is there to correct your errors when you have fired every faculty member whose profession is wisdom and the inculcation thereof?
If an institution of education only exists to train students to make money, then it should not exist at all.
A far better investment would be a pyramid scheme, a course in stocks and bonds, or one-week seminar on Machiavelli’s The Prince. Why should anyone in their right mind spend $30,000 a year to learn to be financially viable? Suddenly the very admittance to college becomes a game in which only the most easily duped need apply. You have failed the test before you began by believing that over $100,000 in debt was the way to start a financially savvy future.
I need to cease my invective. But how many more times will I have to watch these stories unfold? They are so tiring.
Like John Fea, I too read Rick Ostrander’s Academically Speaking. Apparently, his former university (Cornerstone) did not. For they have not learned any “Lessons” regarding higher education. The answer for universities to flourish is not to become exactly like the market (which changes regularly—did these administrators not pass their economics courses!?). The answer is to strengthen their distinctives as bulwarks amidst the ever-changing winds! Education is primarily for soul formation, development of wisdom, and the humanities or liberal arts are the practices by which one becomes fully human. It’s worth all the cost.
My current university, Pepperdine, also happens to be my alma mater. Twenty-odd years ago, I chose Pepperdine for three reasons (among the top universities where I was accepted, which included Davidson, Vanderbilt, and others): 1) Christian in practice and not merely name; 2) international programs are the best in the world; 3) Great Books core curriculum. Decades later, the school is not changing course like those schools that are failing, but Pepperdine is doubling down on all the distinctives that set it apart!
We have to stop giving in to the lies about higher education: the delusion that cutting humanities will save colleges. In reality, those institutions that are removing the liberal arts are ripping out the heart of their college. They are destroying the soul of the university. Wingless chickens, Flannery O’Connor might call them. Or, to echo C.S. Lewis, they are universities without chests.
What I’m Reading
I’ve been reading books for endorsing lately, more so than for fun. Though I’ve read a few sample chapters of novels and am waiting to pick what book I’ll carry with me on vacation. Here are my three recent reads, all good, all worth grabbing though for very different reasons.
Recent Updates
I recorded a podcast with Dan Moran on “Wildcat” that you can check out via his new Substack.
Guns & Gardens featured my book Flannery O’Connor’s Why Do the Heathen Rage? on their summer reading list (alongside Percival Everett!)
For the past several months, I’ve been preparing a Great Courses on Flannery O’Connor to be released via Audible. I’ve just finished. Look for it this fall!