The Ideal of the University
Philosophy Professor Jennifer A. Frey of the University of Tulsa delivered a lecture on October 21, 2025 titled “What is a University and How Can We Recover It?” as part of the James Madison Program’s Stuart Lecture Series on Institutional Corruption in America. Professor Frey explored the historical vocation of the university and the crisis facing the contemporary academy.
Professor Frey began with a brief account of the philosophical tradition concerning the vocation of the scholar, which she humbly described as “old-fashioned,” but a tradition she favors. Frey concluded her talk with a remark from a Harvard committee report that described the task of modern democracy as “preserving the ancient ideal.”