SCHOLARS FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
c/o American Council of Trustees and Alumni
1625 K Street, N.W., Suite 310
Washington, D.C. 20006
202-467-6787

April 14, 1999

Dear Trustees:

      No institution has better exemplified the life of the mind than the University of Chicago. It is tragic that it is now embarked on a course threatening to its distinctive mission. As scholars who have a past affiliation with the University--as alumni or former faculty--we urge that the board conduct a critical review before changes are made that may do lasting harm.

      The decision to cut core requirements strikes at the heart of Chicago's distinctive undergraduate education. Students themselves have objected to the idea that they would prefer less rigorous requirements. Enlarging enrollments for questionable financial reasons is dangerous. It may require lowering admissions standards, increasing class sizes, and turning more of the teaching over to graduate students and non-tenure-track faculty. At the same time, resources for research may be drained in order to meet these needs.

      Undergraduate education may have been eroded already. As of 1997-98, we understand only 40 percent of classes in the social science core were being taught by regular faculty, and only 43 percent in the humanities core. For foreign languages and mathematics, the numbers were even lower. The board of trustees should inquire about these trends and whether the new policy includes a commitment--backed by resources--to small classes taught by regular faculty.

      Equally disturbing is the role marketing played in the changes. According to The New York Times, a Chicago vice president justified the changes by commenting, "I don't know how many students we can attract if we go after those who only seek the life of the mind." Changing the curriculum to attract less intellectual students jeopardizes the moral core of a great university. Making academic decisions on the basis of marketing is itself a crime against the mind. As former University of Chicago president Robert Maynard Hutchins once wrote.

     "It is sad but true that when an institution determines to do something in order to get money it must lose its soul, and it frequently does not get the money. ... I do not mean, of course, that universities do not need money and that they should not try to get it. I mean only that they should have an educational policy and then try to finance it, instead of letting financial accidents determine their educational policy."

      Our concern is not just for one university but for all of higher education. In recent years, as other institutions succumbed to the temptation of mediocrity, the University of Chicago stood firm, upholding a standard for excellence in the liberal arts and providing an inspiration for other colleges and universities. If Chicago now falters, other colleges will be encouraged to lower their standards as well.

      That is why, as friends of the university, we solemnly call on the Board of Trustees to take time to review the proposed changes, to consult with with faculty, and to renew the university's historic commitment to high academic standards in the liberal arts.

Saul Bellow
Seth Benardete
Walter Berns
Michael Allen Gillespie
Mary Ann Glendon
Gertrude Himmelfarb
Michael J. Malbin
David Riesman
Stanley Rosen
James Q. Wilson