7.6 /10 1 Votes
Language English Media type Print Publisher Regnery Publishing | 3.8/5 Goodreads Publication date 1951 Originally published 1951 Country United States of America Subject Yale University | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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God and Man at Yale: The Superstitions of “Academic Freedom” is a 1951 book by William F. Buckley Jr., based on Buckley's undergraduate experiences at Yale University, in which Buckley criticized Yale and its faculty for forcing collectivist, Keynesian, and secularist ideology on its students. Buckley criticized individual professors by name, arguing that they tried to break down students' religious beliefs through their hostility to religion, and that Yale was denying its students any sense of individualism by making them embrace the ideas of liberalism. Buckley argued that the Yale charter leaves oversight of the university to the alumni, and that because most alumni of Yale believed in God, Yale was failing to serve its "masters" by teaching course content in a matter inconsistent with alumni beliefs. Buckley eventually became a leading voice in the American conservative movement in the latter half of the twentieth century.
Reviews and legacy
God and Man at Yale received mixed reviews when it was first published. Many American academics and pundits underestimated the ultimate impact that the book and Buckley would have on American society, thinking that it would quickly fade into the background. Quite the opposite happened, as Buckley used it as a launching pad into the public eye. Buckley himself credited the attention his book received to the "Introduction" written by John Chamberlain, writing that it "chang[ed] the course of his life" and that the famous Life editorial writer had acted out of "reckless generosity." Buckley went on to be an active force in the conservative movement through the political magazine he started, National Review, and his television show Firing Line. The book and its author played a crucial role in tying together the different factions of the arising conservative movement to form a potent political force.
George Will called the book "a lovers' quarrel with his alma mater."