How I Became a Campus Revolutionary
Adam Kissel
July 1, 2000
For the first time in memory, a student government receives a stronger vote of confidence than a university president. Students hold campus-wide protest rallies for two years. Under severe pressure from trustees, faculty, students, and alumni, the unpopular president resigns. What kind of radical, unkempt institution could this be? Brown? Berkeley?
Try the University of Chicago, the institution whose unofficial motto is "Where fun comes to die." Chicago's famous, intensely difficult general education programs—in which students read and reread scores of "great books" and work meticulously through "great ideas"—have kept undergraduates in the library and out of the administration building (with a few exceptions in the 1960s) for decades. Big Ten football was banished from Chicago forever, to the delight of those who despise the excesses of football culture. For the most part, we're unusually conservative students of unusually conservative teachers. So what happened? And how did I, a graduate student in the notoriously conservative Committee on Social Thought, become a campus revolutionary?
When I first arrived at the University of Chicago in the fall of 1997, I immediately began to hear rumors of controversy. Like most of my fellow students, I had only the slightest knowledge of the disagreement: I learned that there was a plan to increase the size of the student body and that some people were against it. Knowing nothing about the real issues, but making judgments anyway (as we all do), I figured it was fine. My reasoning was simple: if the institution is good, more of a good thing is also good. Go ahead, I thought, build buildings and add students and teachers and bring the Chicago Way to an ever larger number of people.
Then, ...
Like the preview? To read this complete article
and 20,006 more in the archive—JOIN NOW!
Easily find high-quality, well-researched materials that provide a Christian perspective on topics ranging from headlines to history.
Start using this invaluable tool TODAY for preparing your Bible studies, presentations, class lectures, sermons, meetings, and more.
|
It's easy and quick to join:
Brought to You by Christianity Today Int'l |  |
|
| 
Find similar articles
E-mail this page
