Tonight, we held an ISI soiree at Washington & Lee University. Three ISI professors put it together! Two of them collaborated on a lecture during the soiree on the subject “The Politics of the Great Books.” It was fascinating.
One professor, Eduardo Velasquez (and ISI author of a forthcoming title, The Consumer’s Guide to the Apocalypse) claimed he was “a liberal with something to conserve.” He urged the students to take up a study in the great books, in a broad liberal arts education because what we ultimately have to preserve is liberty, but that liberty is something that has to be learned. As “the governed” we are told we “consent” to the government – but we really weren’t asked for our consent. Rather, we learn how to work within the system of government that was passed on to us – or we emigrate (if we can).
Professor Lucas Morel compared the view of education by two prominent African-Americans, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois. Washington has expressed a more utilitarian view of education at the turn of the twentieth century, mostly the education for survival (training). DuBois on other hand said something like, the university is not a place to make men into carpenters, but rather carpenters into men. Morel stressed the importance of diving into the great books and getting involved with ISI for these reasons – to form oneself. Velasquez agreed but more in terms of how to liberate oneself through books and ideas.
About 20 students attended and there was a lot of enthusiasm for ISI and the great books. A few of the students there were also from the Spectator, the Collegiate Network publication here. They seem to be doing good work but just need to publish more frequently. Most of the students on campus, they say, are conservative, so it’s tough to get people writing about issues (not enough liberal bias to write about I guess). But, they have a great group of professors that are dedicated to the cause of preserving liberty through education. It sounds like a great school to go to… and it is an absolutely beautiful campus here in Lexington, VA.