One of my favorite religion websites, Killing the Buddha, published an essay I wrote about the unapologetic conservatism of The King’s College in New York City. Here’s an excerpt:
Undoubtedly, any institution of higher education is marked by a prevailing ideology, and Christian colleges in particular. But The King’s College—under Oakes, then Olasky, and now D’Souza—seems less like a college and more like an experiment in proselytizing as pedagogy, to the detriment of the intelligent, hard-working students that I came to know during my brief tenure there.
Read the rest here.
Jonathan D. Fitzgerald
Jonathan D. Fitzgerald is editor of Patrol and author of Not Your Mother's Morals: How the New Sincerity is Changing Pop Culture for the Better. Follow Fitz on Twitter.
7 Responses to Education or Indoctrination at The King's College
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I’m not sure if I’d call the teaching at King’s “proselytizing to the detriment” of students at King’s. I entered into King’s with the political mindset of my Republican parents. My time at King’s actually challenged these assumptions as much as supporting them. There was certainly a healthy debate about the ideas of politics, philosophy, and economics. Yes, we started with the presupposition of freedom as a good, but just about everyone at the College recognized that unbridled freedom is just as dangerous as freedom withheld.
…just some thoughts from an alumnus.
One of Kings’ FAQ’s reads “The King’s College is plainly not for students seeking careers in science, medicine, technology, or engineering.” This is a private school, right? It seems that they are pretty upfront about who they are and what their goals are. You had correct misgivings about whether or not you would fit in there for a reason, it’s strange that after being “inside” you would discover that they were in fact, what they said they were.
There are so many radically left leaning colleges, I think it’s great that places like King’s or Hillsdale exist. They at least make their intentions clear. Something most of the educational system in the U.S. does not.
You also said “Some criticized the choice on the basis of D’Souza’s Roman Catholicism; how could a Catholic lead an evangelical school?” Kings is recorded on U.S. News’ article “2011 Best Colleges” as “Catholic.”
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/wilkes-barre-pa/king's-college-3282
Do note that the King’s College you found on US News is located in Wilkes-Barre, PA. That’s not The King’s College in NYC, which identifies as evangelical.
I stand corrected.
Free info like this is an apple from the tree of konlwdege. Sinful?
Is Patrol no longer sponsored by/based at Kings? I’m kind of guessing not; just curious!
You are correct. There is no longer a formal King’s/Patrol connection.