Submitted by A. De Rosa, Nov 29, 2006 15:58

A very good article by Mr. Plieninger. I am a 1974 Barnard graduate and recently had occasion to write to Barnard President Judith Shapiro on what Plieninger calls the 'academic flight of reason' from the Barnard campus. President Shapiro has called for more campus dialogue on 'sensitive' issues. To that end, and as a beginning to bringing some diversity of ideas to the Barnard campus, myself and one or two other alumnae are working on inviting a pro-life speaker to Barnard's somewhat activist feminist campus. We have discussed how Columbia handled (or didn't handle) the Minutemen speaker, and we are aware that we may not be welcomed with open arms despite President Shapiro's call for 'dialogue.' As Mr. Plieninger says, 'Dialogue at Columbia is becoming futile, . . . . .' So true, both at Columbia and Barnard, and at many other liberal arts colleges and universities that have abandoned their mission of educating in the traditional sense of a liberal arts education. Thanks for your article.

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