And he describes the fate of those who dissent, from junior faculty members to editors of student newspapers, such as The Dartmouth Review. While it lacks the zeal of Sykes' book, Killing the Spirit will be just as effective. A Ph.D. from Harvard, emeritus professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and an award winning author, whose works include the multi-volume People's History of America, Page Smith is an insider, which makes his criticisms of education powerful. Killing the Spirit is filled with horror stories which document institutional biases and serve as graphic examples of the narrow-mindedness of academia. Smith was initially denied acceptance in graduate school, for example, because Harvard professors didn't like his Dartmouth mentor, Eugene Rosenstock-Huessy.
Political correctness is nothing new.
Killing the Spirit includes a lengthy discussion of the evolution of higher education in America. Universities were rooted in the evolution of a Democratic-Secular order, the financial backing of the robber barons, the German model of education and 'research', the largess of the federal government beginning with the Morrill Acts, and the fixation with graduate education. The historical section, because of Smith's expertise, is especially strong. Smith stresses the hidden agenda behind early higher education. This was the priesthood of my service.