This makes comparison to the current situation in universities
almost irrelevant. It explains, however, why some people question
the presence of students who would not have been accepted in a
college a century ago, even 50 years ago. Yes, the university is
the bearer of prejudices as well as values.
The relevance of historic background is provided by the
understanding of the formative power of language, of its
capacity for storing ideas and ideals associated with
permanency, and for disseminating the doctrine of permanency and
authority, making it part of the social texture. Religion
insinuated itself into the sciences and humanities, and assumed
the powerful role of assigning meaning to various discoveries and
theories. Education in such universities was for eternity,
according to a model that placed humanity in the center of the
universe and declared it exemplary because it originated from
the Supreme power. The university established continuity through
its entire program, and did so on the foundation of literacy. As
an organization, it adopted a structure more favorable to
integration and less to differentiation. It constituted a
counter-power, a critical instrument, and a framework for
intellectual practice. Although many associate the formula
"Knowledge is power" with the ideology of the political left, it
actually originated in the medieval university, and within
conservative power relations for which literacy constituted the
underlying structure.
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