A few months ago we suggested a way to begin reclaiming our heritage of excellence and quality in higher education
A new bill—SB 129–was signed into law last winter severely restricting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs in higher education in Alabama.
The bill basically prohibits divisive concepts of race, sex, ethnicity and other factors which undermine the traditional concept that excellence in education is obtained by merit and hard work, by what we do not, or who we are.
The answer to DEI is to restore the ingredients in higher education that endowed us with standards and strengths to build the world we all inhabit. Our model for reform and restoration of values and merit in higher education will be Alpha College. Read on.
What I see today is a rapid erosion of that world. But, at least in one area, I know where to stop the erosion and begin the process of rebuilding.
We need to reexamine closely the values and ethics which gave this country its distinctive character. Then, before the collective memory of those attributes fades away into some corner of our memory, we need to do something
We, for sure, do not need to let this opportunity slip by, like a footnote to the fall of the Roman Empire, to some remote corner of our mind. We need to recapture that spirit of excellence and bring it alive into the twenty-first century.
I propose to establish an Alpha College at UA as the most challenging forum for teaching students the values and substance that are synonymous with a quality education. Alpha College will be a leader in reforming the tattered structures of DEI, grade inflation, and other Woke politics that have so undermined higher education across the country.
For, with some notable exceptions, today we are but a tattered and fading memory of what we once were.
Does any doubt that we need Alpha Colleges across the country?
As I see it, the world is taking us. The signs are all around us. Most everything we buy seems to be made in China.
Our unparalleled lead in technology is eroding.
Cheating in schools is rampant. There is in fact a culture of entitlement and mediocrity where there once was excellence and pride in one’s work.
We spent like profligates during the last few generations. Not so long ago we saved and invested for the long haul, not for the short-term gain.
We have become the “evil empire” in some wars in the Middle East that contradict our history and national values.
To restore our culture we begin by changing ourselves, one by one. I am not offering a solution for all people, for all time. Here’s the way we begin.
Establish an “Alpha College” at any university wishing to take the lead. I’m only suggesting UA since I am here. The curriculum of the Alpha College will be decided by faculty and people in society whose values and accomplishments we admire.
Alpha College will emphasize learning the fundamentals of our civilization just as in times past, and how to apply them, justly and wisely.
It will not be a replica of any one curriculum from the past.
The first Alpha College Dean faces three different tasks: one, identify those core values which make a successful civilization; two, study past educational tracks and institutions to see which ones encouraged and inculcated those values; three, create a modern track for the Alpha College, one for the 21st century incorporating not only the best of the past but also the best of today into a package for the future.
For that, I think, is what we are lacking, a vision of the future.
We need a plan and a vision that lifts us up from simply existing (a job, a home, financial security) and accumulating (wealth, power, acclaim, fame) to one that looks with hope to a future that truly lights our eyes with wisdom and pulls us forward with excitement and wonder and high expectations.
Discipline, hard work, and accountability will be cornerstones of the new Colleges.
For that we need to reach back to the values that allowed us—a free people living under republican institutions—to realize our potential as human beings, and, two, to fashion the new frontier before us, invoking the best from the past, and the promise of the future. Greek democracy and AI in one demanding package!
We need both tradition and the future, Shakespeare and computers, history and nanotechnology, and we need to teach these with conviction and high expectations.
What will be the Alpha College curriculum? That will be for others to determine. Alpha College will foster true critical thinking and a deep appreciation for the Western tradition (recognizing its flaws as well as its merits), but with a knowledge and respect for the other great traditions and civilizations of the world.
When—if—you get your diploma you will come away with two major accomplishments.
One, you will be an educated person.
Two, you will be prepared to compete in the global marketplace of ideas, economies, ideologies, religions, and politics. You will know that you have passed the most rigorous and demanding curriculum in the U. S.
The challenge is for some institution—great or great-in-the-making, national or regional, large or small—to make a reality of the Alpha College and set the model in place.
Or, perhaps, an aspiring candidate for President could absorb and reflect the vision in his or her platform.
The old King James version of Proverbs 29:18 shows us the way: “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.”
As Alpha College prospers and grows, so will the University that houses it, taking its lessons for the greater good and learning of the entire institution.
Posted on September 24, 2024
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