Exposed! NAS's Secret Membership Drive

Peter Wood

NAS member and mathematician John Wenger in Chicago has read my report of November 24, New AQ: Academic Revisionisms, and noticed the sentence in which I said, “We recently opened our membership to those who are not in the academic world but care about the future of higher education.”  Why, Professor Wenger asks, aren’t we shouting this from the rooftops?  He writes:

I cannot understand for the life of me why we are not advertising our new open status.  I would give an argument, but you already gave the argument in your explanation of why you are not doing so.  In this article, you tell those newly eligible to join that they are needed, but obviously not enough to advertise in places where they might actually see the message.

As I recall, your reason for not advertising this is fear that there would be a member backlash.  Seems to me that an organization dedicated to rational discourse would welcome dissent and deal with it.  We need all the help we can get, and the decision to open up membership is the right thing to do.  Now all you need is to really believe it.

Well, OK. I am rationally persuaded by Professor Wenger. In fact, I strongly believe that there are a lot of smart, educated people who align with NAS’s goals; who ought to be NAS members; and who are surely welcome here. We need to do more to get the word out.  

  • Share

Most Commented

May 7, 2024

1.

Creating Students, Not Activists

The mobs desecrating the American flag, smashing windows, chanting genocidal slogans—this always was the end game of the advocates of the right to protest, action civics, student activ......

March 9, 2024

2.

A Portrait of Claireve Grandjouan

Claireve Grandjouan, when I knew her, was Head of the Classics Department at Hunter College, and that year gave a three-hour Friday evening class in Egyptian archaeology....

April 20, 2024

3.

The Academic's Roadmap

By all means, pursue your noble dream of improving the condition of humanity through your research and teaching. Could I do it all again, I would, but I would do things very differently....

Most Read

May 15, 2015

1.

Where Did We Get the Idea That Only White People Can Be Racist?

A look at the double standard that has arisen regarding racism, illustrated recently by the reaction to a black professor's biased comments on Twitter....

October 12, 2010

2.

Ask a Scholar: What is the True Definition of Latino?

What does it mean to be Latino? Are only Latin American people Latino, or does the term apply to anyone whose language derived from Latin?...

September 21, 2010

3.

Ask a Scholar: What Does YHWH Elohim Mean?

A reader asks, "If Elohim refers to multiple 'gods,' then Yhwh Elohim really means Lord of Gods...the one of many, right?" A Hebrew expert answers....