The author joined the faculty of Macalester College in the fall of 1968. Much to his surprise, he discovered at the first faculty meeting that he could not understand what his new colleagues were talking about. For many years he literally had no one to talk to about subjects that mattered most to him, such as the philosophy of education. Then about fourteen years ago something happened that saved his career and perhaps his sanity. Out of the blue he received an invitation to attend a meeting in Northfield at the home of two Carleton College professors, and there they were introduced to one Steve Balch. Steve described a new organization he and others were founding to be called the National Association of Scholars. Suddenly he learned that there were others as concerned as he was about what was happening to American higher education. The author discovered that right there in Minnesota there were people he could talk to, people who shared his rather traditional philosophy of education. The rest is history, as the saying goes.