The Battle for Utah’s Universities Has Begun

Last Wednesday, a committee of the Utah state senate voted down a bill, S.B. 226, that would have restored classic liberal education — including the history of Western civilization, the great books of Western philosophy and literature, traditional American history, civics, and literature, the great economic thinkers, masterpieces of Western art, as well as an introduction to non-Western cultures — to a place of centrality at the University of Utah.

All students would have taken such courses in common, faculty members committed to traditional general education would have been hired to teach them, and some currently fashionable programs and departments would have been shut down to balance the books. Inspired by the model General Education Act, Utah Senate Bill 226 is a truly transformative measure. And although it failed in last week’s committee vote, there is every reason to believe that we are at the beginning, not the end, of the battle over this ambitious proposal — both in Utah and nationally.