Western culture is not transmitted through the genes. It has to be taught to each succeeding generation. To transmit this heritage, we depend on our schools and colleges. Never has a public trust been more misplaced. We are reminded of the rupturing of our cultural pipeline by the current debate over curricular changes at Stanford University. In a speech at Stanford on April 18, Secretary of Education William J. Bennett blasted that University for scrapping its basic course, "Western Thought," which has been required for all freshmen. The "Western Thought" course was introduced in 1980. It was a step toward...