The Decline and Fall (in the U.S.) of the Public Intellectual

John MacArthur:

Last week I spoke at my alma mater's Class Day ceremony, which at Columbia College serves as the central event for seniors, even though Columbia University, of which it's a part, conducts the formal commencement and awarding of degrees on the next day. I won't reprise my speech since I'm reluctant to promote a contribution to a genre of public speaking that many people equate with sedatives. (It is available on Harpers.org.) As my fellow Columbia graduate Tom Vinciguerra wrote in Newsday, "The days of memorable, even historic, end-of-academic-year speeches are long gone," replaced mainly by "throwaway sentiments equally trite and hortatory--e.g., 'seize the day,' 'don't forget to give back,' 'dare to be different.' "

Posted by Jim Zellmer at May 25, 2012 3:04 AM
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