The dreadful events that have afflicted colleges this spring are symptoms of a mortal disease, contracted long ago and metastasizing now. If it is not cured, it means destruction, not only for colleges, but for the societies that need them.
The disease is mortal because it affects the central purpose of college. The word college means partnership. Partnership for what? For millennia, the answer was learning, especially learning the best and highest things. The young need to address themselves to these things at the point of maturity and before being immersed in careers. Whatever those careers, they will be directed toward these purposes or they will leave. Typically, the young students work with adult faculty members who have devoted their lives to knowing these fundamentals. Done properly, it is a wonderful life for everyone involved. Its purpose is not, however, to change the world, but to understand it.
