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CT: One of your key points in the article is that Orthodoxy was long a part of Russian higher education, but that it was a servant rather than a more independent and creative force in its own right. What about the current Russian church-state regime brings about the change you've written about? Is there a danger that such efforts will be stifled by stronger alliances between the Russian church and the state?

Glanzer: Part of the change comes from the fact that Orthodox education is no longer suppressed, but neither is it favored with direct funding from the federal government. Freedom without favoritism can produce a healthy entrepreneurial spirit. In fact, one of the fascinating parts of our research concerns the entrepreneurial efforts of some of the early Orthodox universities. Without state sponsorship, the new Orthodox universities ran on extremely tight budgets. Many professors basically worked for free at the Orthodox school while earning money at a secular school. St. Tikhon University initially survived on sales from its book store. Later, the state provided the universities some resources but this was through returning property stolen by the Communists.

Of course, this freedom without favoritism is changing. The theology faculty at St. Tikhon wrote the state standards for theology degrees (which even apply to Islamic schools). In addition, local governments are funding these schools while also putting up legal road blocks to other Christian colleges such as Russian American Christian University. The Orthodox church needs to remember that the road to secularization undertaken by other Christian universities often begins when a particular church or religion courts unjust forms of political or cultural hegemony.

A number of liberal arts college presidents have moved from frequent protest against the U.S. News and World Report rankings to formal action. Approximately 40 institutions (with another 30 to 40 rumored to join) have stated their intent to no longer participate in the U.S. News rankings by filling out the infamously subjective "reputational survey" or by using the rankings in their own promotional campaigns. Not many Christian colleges and universities have signed on yet, but Frances Lucas of the Methodist-affiliated Millsaps College, speaking to Inside Higher Ed, offered a compelling reason they might want to do so. Lucas claims virtually every college president would shift some merit aid to aid for low-income students if the rankings weren't in play.

We've heard a lot about high school abstinence movements like True Love Waits and Silver Ring Thing. During the same period, we've incorporated the campus term "hooking up" into our lexicon. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that True Love Revolution at Harvard is designed to encourage preserving sex for marriage, but it has a somewhat novel approach. Although the group is largely a Christian one, the membership of about 150 students includes agnostics interested in the connection the group makes between waiting and real romance.

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August (Web-only) 2007, Vol. 51