Those who know John Campbell, president emeritus of Oklahoma State University, will not be surprised by the energy and thought he so evidently devoted to producing Reclaiming a Lost Heritage. In the book, which is written in an interesting and easy-to-read style, he sounds the warning bell for the land-grant system in particular and U.S. higher education in general, suggesting that it is losing its way and challenging it to renew its service-oriented contract with the public.
No doubt, our public colleges and universities have served the agricultural and industrial sectors of our state and nation well. The formal (and informal) education that has been made available to millions of young people who otherwise would not have been able to afford it has fulfilled the dreams of the statesmen who were arguing for such a system already 150 years ago. John Campbell describes in detail the origins of the land-grant system of higher education. It is a genuinely American story, and I suspect most alumni and even many faculty members of land-grant schools will find here a lot they had not known. The early part of the book serves to put into historical context the description and criticism of the modern land-grant system that follows.
John Campbell clearly respects the 140-year land-grant tradition and what it has yielded in terms of U.S. agricultural and industrial economies that have become the envies of the world. just as clearly, her is troubled by current trends in public higher education in this country, and worried that they might be leading to the demise of the land-grant system. He shares these concerns in terms understandable by anyone. his recurring theme is that land-grant institutions as a group are losing sight of why they were established in the first place, abandoning their primary missions of education, research, and public service to the young people of the working class. But he does not stop at pointing a finger, because he is a responsible critic. Ever the optimist, Campbell goes on to make concrete and doable suggestions for remedying the specific ills he sees.
When it comes to a philosophy and vision for higher education into the next century, John Campbell -- with four decades of land-grant university experience behind him -- is not afraid to march to his own drummer. I happen to agree with most of his notions about the importance of strengthening land-grant universities by having them return to their roots, to their original reason for being. But even if a reader does not agree with the author's every point, Reclaiming a Lost Heritage will be a stimulating read for anyone interested in American higher education now and in the future.