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Pretty wild stuff, huh? You should check out the coverage of the Historical Society's first press conference in the Chronicle of Higher Education (May 8, 1998, pp. A12-A13), where some critics of the new association hint darkly that it is driven by a "conservative" agenda. Never mind that Genovese and his colleagues have assiduously recruited scholars from all over the ideological map.
What struck me, in reading the prospectus, was how closely the goals of the society resemble those of Books & Culture. They are, of course, the priorities that are supposed to govern academic discourse and indeed provide its distinctive character. Yet increasingly, our colleges and universities—Christian as well as secular—are failing to live up to their charter.
That failure is not limited to academic settings, nor to adherents of any one ideology (though the academic scene is clearly dominated by the pc gang). In a review of two books on the role of radio in the Cold War, Edward E. Ericson, Jr., remarks that "even President Reagan's underlings" at times failed to support Radio Free Europe: "In the heat of battle, it was easy to doubt [RFE's] strategy of 'evenhanded dispensation of information.'"
What about us? Are we fulfilling our charter in this respect? Please let us know what you think.
—John Wilson, Editor
Copyright © 1998 by the author or Christianity Today International/Books & Culture Magazine. For reprint information call 630-260-6200 or e-mail bceditor@BooksAndCulture.com.
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