If our students are not free to learn, they stand little chance of learning how to be free. Both American democracy and American higher education will wither if free speech and debate are squelched.
Higher Education
Don’t Shrink the Core. Fix It.
Just how bad is American higher education today? Consider this observation on today’s college students from Jessica Wilson, a professor of great books and humanities at Pepperdine: “It’s not even an inability to critically think. It’s an inability to read sentences.” She is not alone. Professors at elite colleges report that many incoming students arrive...
July 31, 2026