Should College Of Idaho Drop “Liberal” From Liberal Arts?

The College of Idaho is known for many things:

• It's student body of over 1,000 students
• Eight Rhodes Scholars graduates
• Three graduates went on to become governors
• It's the oldest liberal arts college in Idaho

Ahh. See the sticking point on that last one. It's a liberal arts college.

Sigh. Let's go to Wikipedia to see exactly what a "liberal arts" college is:

A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on undergraduate study in liberal arts and sciences.

You can already hear people fuming behind their keyboards with "Yeah, but what's liberal arts then?" Fine.

Liberal arts education (from Latinliberalis "free" and ars "art or principled practice")^[1] is the traditional academic course in Western higher education.^[2]Liberal arts takes the term art in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the fine arts.

If we're reading that correctly, then a liberal arts college is one that teaches Western education, and skills. That's it. Nothing more. Nothing less. No hidden messages. No brain washing.

Therefore, there's no reason for anyone on Earth to be offended by the term "liberal arts" or College of Idaho for being a liberal arts college.

You may think this a joke, but you know that in 2023 people will find a way to be offended and outraged by absolutely everything. We're just out here doing the lord's work and trying to squash the controversies before they happen.

You could say we're taking a very...liberal approach to handling the situation.

YEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.