Educating for Liberty University

Tonight, we held an ISI soiree at Liberty University - yes the Bapitst school founded by Jerry Falwell. An ISI Campus Representative, Nick, who is still a bit new to ISI put the soiree together in less than two weeks and it was very successful. About 30 people showed up, and about 7 of them were faculty.

I gave a presentation about ISI and tried to talk about the purpose of higher education. Nick and his professor have been trying to get a "Great Books" program off the ground here. Nick is a 26-year old first year student. He spent the past 5 years in the Navy and did some community college, but really wants a "Great Books" education. He wanted to go to St. John's College in Annapolis or Santa Fe, where that exists, but he was called to go to Liberty. He now wants to make it his purpose here to start and lead a Great Books program, where students like himself are immersed in the canon of the Western tradition.

I think there was a lot of interest at the soiree, for both ISI and the Great Books program. About 15 new members signed up and they gobbled up the sandwiches and the free literature that we provided, including the ISI Student's Guides series, which are themselves a way for students to get their own Great Books education - as we introduce them to the best of what's been thought and said in each field.

A few of the professors (long time ISI professors) in the Jesse Helms School of Government at Liberty took me by the government department. It's one of the nicest departments on campus, very spacious offices and a really nice "roundtable" for meetings. They also have a timeline on the wall of memorable moments from the life of Jesse Helms.

Liberty is a good school, but not a great school. These folks all want to make it great. It has the potential, as it has the desire to seek truth through Christ. But, it needs to understand what John Henry Newman preached - that faith and reason compliment each other. For if reason brings us to the truth, then it will surely guide us to the truth of Christ. There's no reason to be afraid of reason - especially if you have such a well-cultivated foundation to think from.