DAVID SIDO R SKY
721
Further, th ere is little empiri cal evidence to demo nstra te the interest
o r the commitment of parents and students, as, so to speak, consumers of
uni versity edu ca ti on , to foster a university w hi ch has grea ter freedom of
inquiry. The primary conce rn of students o r parents is th e university's
fun cti on as an instituti on fo r socializa ti on and fo r economi c mobili ty. As
lo ng as th e uni versity, w heth er or no t po liti cized in its humaniti es o r
soc ial sc iences, pro vid es th ese fun c ti o ns , includin g th e necessa ry
credenti ali za ti on fo r admi sson to professional schools, it is not perceived
as being in vi o lation o f its implicit contrac tu al obli ga tion to the se
constituents. Fo r th e maj o ri ty, a college educa tion has been viewed as a
ri te o f passage, w ith a limited role for humanisti c scholarship .
From such a perspec ti ve, gove rn ed by sho rt-te rm res ults, th e
"seri ous" part of the uni ve rsity o r, more appropriatel y, th e multi versity, is
no t placed in j eopardy by politi cized departments in th e humaniti es and
in th e soc ial sc iences. Th ese ca n coex ist with presti gious professio nal
schools and with exce ll ent sc ientifi c faculti es and resea rch institutes. Th e
transfo rmati o n o f th e uni ve rsity into an instituti on w hi ch will continue
its traditional fun cti ons , wh eth er in resea rch in the natural sc iences o r in
th e soc iali za ti o n o f the younge r generati on aft er secondary school, while
at th e same time se rvin g as a forum fo r politi cized sc holarship and
teaching, marks a new phase in th e long hi story o f th e uni versity. The
nove l fea tures o f th e change sho uld be apprec iated , fo r th ey are omin ous
fo r its fu ture.
T he W estern university during the centuri es of its evo luti on became
the recogni zed sea t o f in tell ec tual autho ri ty in th e culture. As such it was
a magnet fo r gifted minds
to
ac hi eve pee r recogniti o n in the intell ec tual
di sc iplines, parti cipate in a centuri es-old conve rsa ti o n , and share in that
autho ri ty. Th e conditi o ns o f free inqui ry th at se rved as a guarantee fo r
int e ll ec tu al auth o rity w e r e r easo n abl y ex pli c it , thou g h no t
constituti o nall y fi xed . In o rder that the intel lec tu al auth o rity would be
recogni zed and prese rved , the university sc holar wo uld not let hi s
scho larship be perverted by reli gious, po liti ca l, ideo logical, o r com–
mercial purposes . In return , so to speak , th e soc iety recogni zed the ri ghts
of th e scho lar and th e illegitimacy of impos ing upo n hi s discipline any
tes ts of confo rmity to reli gio us, ideol ogical, po liti ca l, o r commercial
dogma. This arrangement was parti cularl y true o f the hlllnanities.
T he existence of a seat o f intell ec tual autho rity has had signifi cant
soc ial and cultural influ ences. The parti sa n po liti cal culture, w hi ch re–
so lves issues by exe rcise o f politi cal power has, in many contexts, recog–
ni zed the university as an arbiter of qu es ti ons that require scientifi c re–
sea rch . Eve n the medi a o f communicati o n , whi ch assert th eir role as the
interpreters o f current eve nts, have appea led to th e university as the
arbiter of th e hi sto ri cal reco rd .
