Peter Berkowitz’s book, due Sept. 29 from RealClear Publishing, collects 40 columns he wrote from 2014 to 2025 on liberal education. He argues liberal education has declined at U.S. colleges and proposes reforms to prepare students for freedom and citizenship.
Berkowitz says the essays examine campus due-process issues, what he describes as attacks on free speech and unlawful allocation of benefits by identity, and politicized curricula. Recent pieces address what he calls a surge in campus antisemitism after Hamas’s October 2023 massacre in southern Israel, and Trump administration clashes with Columbia, Harvard and other universities over antisemitism, diversity programs, free speech and intellectual diversity.
Berkowitz defines liberal education as cultivating freedom, self-government and disciplined debate, rooted in American founding principles but extending to Western and other civilizations. He also argues universities should deny admission to applicants who oppose individual freedom and equality under law, seek to undermine U.S. institutions, or serve as spies and collaborate to steal intellectual property, while saying foreign students benefit U.S. campuses.
