At the College Founded in Response to the Scopes Trial, the Administration, Faculty, and Students Have Become Embroiled in a Controversy over “Origins”

The motto of Bryan College is “Christ Above All.” The college, which has an enrollment of between 700 and 800, was originally named William Jennings Bryan College, after the thrice unsuccessful presidential candidate who became a special co-counsel for the prosecution in the Scopes Trial. In addition to “Free Silver,” the “Great Commoner,” as Bryan…

What a Debate Is and Is Not: Bill Nye vs. Ken Ham

In American political discourse, there is a failure to distinguish between persuasion and argument that extends to the media coverage of politics and that distorts, sometimes grossly, the public understanding of and response to the issues of the day. Any student in a composition course that covers persuasion and argument learns that argument is a…

A Local Election of Note

In the recent off-off-year elections, the national media was understandably focused on the gubernatorial contests in Virginia and New Jersey and the mayoral contest in New York City. But, although it has received almost no national attention, a school board election in a suburban community in Ohio may have as many implications as those more…

Inherit the Censorship

In New Ulm, Minnesota, a small town 85 miles southwest of Minneapolis, this Friday was supposed to be the opening night for a production of “Inherit the Wind,” the classic play written more than a half-century ago depicting a fictionalized version of the 1925 Scopes Monkey trial. Instead, the play has been shut down due to opposition…