At this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) the discussion sponsored by Regent University’s School of Government centered around the future of conservative education no matter how iffy this looks.
According to Dr. Jeffry Morrison, Associate Professor of Government at Regent, America has always had a desire for virtue in education. “The founders were more interested in the virtue of the people,” Morrison said. He argued that constitutionalism is driven by religion and education – two values of conservatism.
It calls to question where along the lines of the country’s 200-some year history did this notion of republicanism, virtue in the people, get lost? Morrison explained that although the founders didn’t believe in a central education system they had goals of providing young people with the desire to learn more about government. According to Morrison, “President Washington wanted a distinctly American education.”
Morrison explained that another founder, John Witherspoon, founded the College of New Jersey (now known as Princeton). Morrison called Witherspoon, “The clearest example of a Trinitarian believing individual.” He was able to use education to the country’s advantage. Morrison said, “No single educator matches Witherspoon’s ability to make patriots.” In fact, Witherspoon coined the term “campus” and saw education as one of the most vital ways to form a republic.
Perhaps the theory is true, “you’re only as good as the company you keep.” With such a centralized government advocating for power, we’ve lost touch with belief in the individual. Schools no longer perceived as places of formation, they have become more of a right of passage –a part of the process.
With that process comes a liberal ideology, as Dr. James Davis pointed out, “Higher education is a value and a danger.” He explained that higher education helps set the norms for society, but with recent fascination with “relativism” and “post-modernism” this is becoming increasingly difficult. Davis pointed out that these fascinations pose many questions and challenge the norms – Judeo-Christian values.
Dr. Mary Manjikian, a former State Department Foreign Service Officer (FSO), explained that this is evident by citing recent data that said less than five percent of International Relations professors would identify themselves as conservative. She said, “If nine out of ten professors feel that there is nothing special about America, it will affect students and life on campus.” She pointed out that there is a deeper issue and questioned how the faculty on college campuses actually respects the students.
Davis suggested that young people pursing higher education should seek out schools that don’t challenge the nation’s values but rather embrace them. He noted that the Young America’s Foundation has assembled a list of the country’s top conservative colleges and universities. In looking at these schools, he says it is evident that they are in pursuit of truth. Schools like Christendom have adopted the motto, “to know the truth and to live by it.” Grove City College was one of the fourteen schools on the list. They are one of the few institutions in the country that does not accept federal funding.
Davis argued that these schools are thriving. “They’re not going away.” A 2003 study found that said public schools faced a four percent expansion while private non-Christian schools and private Christian schools expanded at 17 and 42 percent respectively. “Why the interest? Parents and students appreciate the respect for the faith,” he said.
The Honorable Dr. Robert Dyer noted that conservatism is “catching on.” While it might be hard to find in the classroom he noted the thousands of young people in attendance at CPAC. “It’s essential that the youth in this country get together in common mind and spirit,” he said.
Dyer countered what Davis said by telling the group that they don’t necessarily have to go to a conservative school in order to let their message prosper. “Just challenge the system,” he encouraged saying that conservatives must, “continually breathe life into the system and effectively articulate what the conservative message is… We can never lose our core values of what it means to be conservative.”
Jocelyn Grecko is an intern at the American Journalism Center, a training program run by Accuracy in Media and Accuracy in Academia. Jocelyn has spent the past four years in the nation’s capital as a Media Studies undergraduate student at The Catholic University of America. She will graduate in May 2012.
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