Hamilton College Alumni for Governance Reform

Dear President Stewart:

I was disappointed to learn that the administration has withdrawn its support of the Alexander Hamilton Center for the Study of Western Civilization (the “Center”). From the outset, I assumed that the Center would require at least a degree of autonomy. As a scholarly undertaking, the Center has nothing to do with campus politics, but I nonetheless recognized that some faculty members might oppose the Center based simply on their own perception of politics.

Accordingly, I was encouraged to hear Dean Urgo describe the Center as an “exciting faculty initiative, one that will draw renewed attention … to … ongoing educational values.” You also correctly observed that Hamilton students would “benefit now and in future years from the [Center’s] programming and resources.”

Now, suddenly, the College has revoked its support, ostensibly for reasons of “institutional oversight.” Yet, the Center’s Director was to have been advised on programming and initiatives by an outside board of established scholars, and supervised by a nine-member board of overseers. Further, faculty demands for “oversight” of the Center are apparently of recent vintage, and have not been applied to a variety of past enterprises at Hamilton.

In its Charter, the Center explicitly committed itself to the promotion of “excellence in scholarship through the study of freedom, democracy and capitalism as these ideas were developed and institutionalized in the United States and within the larger tradition of Western culture.” It seems incongruous that such a mission could provoke controversy, especially at a liberal arts college. A scholarly enterprise as well conceived and supported as the Center would surely have enhanced Hamilton’s intellectual rigor and stature; unfortunately, the Center never had that opportunity.

Many loyal alumni were ready to contribute to the Center, and that enthusiasm would no doubt have energized support for other areas of Hamilton. Instead, this is the latest of several recent setbacks for Hamilton. Regrettably, there may well be “governance” problems on College Hill, but they do not reside with the Center.

Sincerely,

John T. Refermat ‘91