When sandstone unis crumble

The decision by the Australian National University to refuse millions of dollars from the Ramsay Centre for the study of Western civilisation is a wake-up call to anyone who believed — naively — that top universities would grasp the chance to offer generous scholarships to elevate our rich cultural and political heritage, dating back to Homer 27 centuries ago, to a central place in arts and humanities teaching. The cave-in by ANU, after its academics’ and student unions claimed the Ramsay program would push a “racist’’ and “radically conservative agenda’’ is pathetic. Until then, negotiations between the university and the centre were going well. It is extraordinary that while the unions consider a centre to study Western civilisation beyond the pale, they are less vocal about centres funded by China and Arab nations.

Nobody should make the mistake of thinking the experience with the ANU will cause the Ramsay Centre, chaired by John Howard, to adopt a weaker approach with other universities. It will not, and it should not. Much will depend, however, on the outcome of those negotiations in shaping our tertiary education landscape. The centre’s commitment to applying Paul Ramsay’s $3.3 billion legacy to revive the neglected study of the liberal arts in leading universities, which attract most of the top students, is understandable. Time will tell whether it is practical given the narrow, anti-Western orthodoxy prevailing in humanities faculties, including in sandstone institutions which purport to be the sector’s intellectual leaders. The slide has been evident for 40 years, reflected in the paucity of history and English teaching in particular, which in turn, has become a problem among school teachers graduating from university.

Mr Howard says it is “too early to tell” whether the preferred Ramsay model can work. If not, and the centre opted for alternatives, such as a new liberal arts institute (or institutes), the sandstone universities would be the losers, their slide into cultural irrelevance hastened. In the US, liberal arts colleges have thrived, building credibility and prestige along the way.