American higher education has slowly been refined to the present model, rich with choice and loosely held together by a common moral standard. The purpose of education has been changed since the establishment of the colonial colleges; likewise, the collegiate experience and curriculum also transformed to meet the demands of society over the past few centuries. Author Julie A. Reuben addresses these changes in The Making of the Modern University: Intellectual Transformation and the Marginalization of Morality, published in 1996 through Chicago University Press. This book combines her doctoral dissertation with additional research to tell a story about how the colonial colleges from the seventeenth century slowly developed into modern American universities. Reuben combines general analyses of cultural and intellectual shifts with case studies from eight specific universities: California at Berkeley, Chicago, Columbia, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Michigan, Stanford, and Yale (9).

Race is not an easy subject to broach. Early on in life, based on situational cues (e.g., parents speaking in hushed tones), children realize that it is best to avoid the subject altogether. Instead of learning how to navigate difficult conversations with respect and grace, these children grow up to be adults who are afraid of those who look different, which further perpetuates segregation and systemic racism. Over 60 years after the Civil Rights Movement, social justice advocates continue to ask how we can improve cross-racial relations to create a more equitable society. Enter the seminal work of Beverly Daniel Tatum, Ph.D.: Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race.