Mark Bauerlein, Professor Emeritus, Department of English at Emory University, serves as senior editor at First Things, one of this country’s most influential journals of religion and of the importance of faith in public policy and political life. In April, Dr. Bauerlein invited Robert Paquette to participate in one of a series of podcasts that focuses on political and cultural issues.  They chatted about a “Tale of Two Hamiltons,” how The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) was created and the good work it is now doing nationally as an independent non-profit after Hamilton College reneged on a signed agreement to establish the Institute on campus.

AHI President Paquette received a second invitation for an interview from the hosts of “Talk of the Town,” Radio 100.7, Utica, New York.  They wanted his  take on a recent document issued by three leaders of Hamilton College’s student assembly.  The document called for defunding police, accused the College of harboring racists and white supremacists, and demanded a role in Hamilton’s admissions office “to ensure as few white supremacists as possible slip through the cracks in making it on campus.”  Professor Paquette taught at Hamilton College for nearly forty years before exiting in 2018 to become president of AHI.  He discussed the leftward lurch of Hamilton College during the last quarter century and the College’s betrayal of the ethos of a traditional liberal arts education.