Some Cross-Disciplinary Advice

In this thoughtful piece, a law school dean reflects on what recent events in athletics have to with living with integrity as a lawyer. The recommendations seem applicable on a wider scale.

Getting Religion Wrong

While one might expect a religious studies scholar to know something basic about religion, that is not always the case. Consider, for example, the following passage from a recent Oxford University Press book on religion by Tim Clydesdale, Professor of Sociology at the College of New Jersey, and Kathleen Garces-Foley, Professor of Religious Studies at Marymount University. In discussing a survey that they conducted, they note that

1 out of 11 indicate Mormon, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Eastern Orthodox, or "other non-Christian" religion (hereafter, "other" religion).

They scarcely discuss those in the other religion category. I suspect because, as a sociologist, Clydesdale knows that the sample is so statistically small that it may not be responsible to do so. Instead the authors say that they have decided to focus

on the lives of the 91% of American twentysomethings who affiliate with Christianity (Catholic or Protestant) or have no religious affiliation.

 (Tim Clydesdale and Kathleen Garces-Foley, The Twenty-something Soul (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019), 24.)

Latter-day Saints are used to being mischaracterized, and one would not necessarily expect a sociologist to get denominational distinctions sorted out, but apparently it is too much to expect a professor of religious studies to know that Eastern Orthodox Christians are Christians.

News on Donor Intent

This article is about a month old but tells an interesting story about what happened when Sherlock Hibbs tried to pass on what he learned to the rising generation (another report here, the other side here). Hibbs set up an endowment at his alma mater, the University of Missouri, to teach the Ludwig von Mises Austrian School of Economics that helped him become so successful. Von Mises advocated for free markets and the role of the entrepreneur. Apparently, the University of Missouri was happy to accept Hibbs's millions but was not so enamored with von Mises and his economics and so was using the money for other purposes. Many academics follow economic theories along the following lines: What's mine is mine and what's yours is mine too.

Hibbs, however, was wiser than many philanthropists and gave an outside organization power to police the use of the funds. When that outside organization discovered that the University of Missouri was not following the donor intent, they sued the University of Missouri. The court ruled that the University of Missouri was not following donor intent and must surrender the funds. There is probably a lesson in here somewhere.