Western sieve

Education: Hamilton College rejects a center based on the ideas of its founder and namesake | Mark Bergin

This past September, Hamilton College, a private liberal arts school in upstate New York, proudly announced plans to establish a special department for the study of Western civilization. The charter for the Alexander Hamilton Center (AHC) envisions "excellence in scholarship through the study of freedom, democracy and capitalism."

School administrators received further cause for celebration one month later when prominent alumnus Carl Menges pledged $3.6 million for the AHC. College president Joan Hinde Stewart lauded such generosity: "Our students will benefit now and in future years from the programming and resources resulting from Carl's gift."

But six weeks later, Hamilton bit the hand trying to feed it when a sizable number of faculty members and trustees convinced administrators to rescind their support and block the center's establishment—effectively slapping a gracious donor in the face. The only remaining benefit for students: a lesson in the absurdity of multiculturalism.