About
About this site
You will find on this site weekly articles that appear in newspapers in the Texas Panhandle and beyond. I began writing in 2007 and over 600 reflections are posted on this webpage. A few of them are fairly good, I will leave it to you to judge the rest. The early posts were written while on the architecture faculty at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
The columns express ideas and views of the power of higher education and its impact on society. These are intended to comment on how universities work and the value they bring to individuals and the larger community – musings intended to cause reflective thought about our nation’s universities.
Thank you for taking the time to visit.
I share this simple thought:
Governments cannot make universities by enactments of laws: Nor corporations by erections of edifices: The church cannot create them under the authority of heaven: The flattering eulogies of orators cannot adorn them with learning: Newspapers cannot puff them into being. Learned men-scholars- these are the only workmen who can build up universities. Provide charters and endowments- the necessary protection and capital – provide books and apparatus- the necessary tools: Then seek out sufficient scholars, and leave them to their work, as the intellectual engineers who alone are competent to do it.
–Henry P. Tappan (1805-1881) President, University of Michigan 1858, lecture, Christian Library Association 22 June, quoted in Richard Hofstadter and William Smith (eds.) American Higher Education: A Documentary History Volume II 1961, p. 519
Last updated January 2022
Recent Posts
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Some excerpts have been modified from a 2016 WT 125 White Paper by Walter Wendler, Angela Spaulding and Eddie Henderson. West …
Civic engagement, individual and collective actions aimed at addressing public opportunities and challenges, is fundamental to constitutional republics in healthy societies and …
All public universities, including regional institutions, play a vital role in workforce development by educating and training millions of professionals who are …
Public colleges and universities often have lower tuition rates for in-state residents, making higher education more accessible and affordable. From an accessibility …
Most elected officials in the United States, especially at the federal level (e.g., Congress and the Presidency), tend to graduate from a …
Regional universities are vital to our nation for several reasons, particularly in promoting localized economic development, enhancing social mobility and fostering community …
People tend to be increasingly cynical about higher education. Tuition and fees have increased markedly in the last 40 years, more than …
Originally published over a decade ago in the Chicago Tribune (May 17, 2012), but updated here. Dear Graduating Senior, I am begging your pardon …
