God and Man at Yale

In the early 1950s, William F. Buckely, Jr. (ISI's first president), wrote God and Man at Yale to explore what he saw happening at Yale - a deterioration of the curriculum and the erosion of Western heritage, particularly the Christian traditions that Yale was founded on.

Today, I am happy to report the opposite... I see a turn around at Yale. Surely, it does not represent the dominant mode of thought (yet), but it is a turnaround in the right direction. What is happening is happening slow, as it should.

Some of the folks leading the way are Peter J. and Geoff E. (I don't want to get these folks in trouble). Peter is a freshman and is an impressive guy. He told me his ultimate career goal is "to be President of the King's College" in NYC - by the time he's 35! Geoff, on the other hand is (can't remember - a junior or senior). He and his girlfriend Deb lead a student group called "C.L.A.Y" which stands for "Choose Life at Yale." They are taking the right approach to things.

Peter was an ISI Honors Fellow before he was even enrolled at Yale! And, before freshmen orientation he asked me (without me even offering) if I could send him 100 copies of ISI's Student's Guide to the Core Curriculum (written by Mark Henrie) so that he could distribute at Yale's freshmen orientation and sign new students up for ISI membership on day one. Well, on day one he already signed up about 50 students, and he's continuing to distribute the guides. Yale has a unique 2 week period at the beginning of freshmen year, where students can "survey" all the courses and then choose their core courses for the next 2 years. Peter was thinking ahead of the game, for him, for Yale, for ISI, and for the "souls" of these students, that they might be liberally educated and be guided by ISI through that process.

Geoff, on the other hand, always provides me with unique experiences on my visits to Yale. Last year, he invited me to pray the rosary with some Catholic students one evening at Yale. It was a very awesome experience - and he even gave a book to me on "the secret of the rosary" - a book that I still read a few pages from at least once a week or so. This time, he invited me to come with Deb and himself to a "pro-life holy hour" to pray for life at this nun's house with about a dozen other people. After the hour of prayer (which we were late for!), everyone in the room had some dessert and shared stories of why they are part of the pro-life movement. There were some incredibly moving stories. Geoff, Deb, and I remarked how we all felt "so young" and so "inexperienced in life" in comparison to the others (all mostly middle-aged adults) in the room.

For instance, one of the moving stories included one by a lady in her 50's or so that had an abortion in the 1970s, coerced by a doctor at Planned Parenthood. She later felt guilty for the abortion - so guilty she felt she must be going to hell, until she had a moving experience at mass one day, one that borders on the miraculous for sure. Without going into too much detail here, her story was truly moving and inspiring, not just for the pro-life movement, but for those looking to get deeper with their faith.

Geoff and Deb are not your "political" types (even though Geoff is part of the Conservative Party at Yale and Deb is the president of CLAY). They are more interested in the culture and the counter-cultural movement on campus. Peter, though maybe a little bit more politically motivated is much more culturally and academically motivated than most activist-minded students. And, this is what is unique for the conservative campus movement. It's not as concerned with politicizing, but rather with influencing the culture in a positive way, to introduce students to ideas, to traditional liberal learning, and to moving beyond that feeling of "emptyness" to a greater feeling of fulfillment. And, for Geoff, Deb, and Peter (and myself), that greater feeling of fulfillment is best accomplished when people open themselves to Christ.

Mr. Buckley, the relationship of God and Man has returned to Yale.