Interview with Otis A. Singletary, December 11, 1990

Interview Summary

Session forty-four begins with the summer of 1985 when a draft from the Council on Higher Education was published by the Lexington Herald-Leader. It attacked the U.K. Dental School as well as the community college system. Dr. Singletary comments that it was, "The most serious assault on the University of Kentucky in modern history, and maybe in its existence." He discusses the roles of Harry Snyder, A.D. Albright, and Ted Gilbert on the council, and the function the Council on Higher Education is supposed to serve. Singletary explains how the university mobilized support from political friends and alumni, and he details the changes that the council has undergone since 1985.

Dr. Singletary also visits the role of the graduate schools at the University of Kentucky and argues against duplicating graduate programs. He talks about the value of higher education. Four books were also discussed during this interview: Prof Scam (Charles J. Sykes); Hollow Men (Michael Gold); The Closing of the American Mind (Allan David Bloom); and The Killing of the Spirit: Higher Education in America (Page Smith). He compares education in America to that in other countries and talks about the civic mission of the university. Singletary responds to the death of Harry Caudill by discussing both his friendship and business relationship with him. He talks about the impact of Caudill's book, Night Comes to the Cumberlands and also discusses Walter Prescott Webb's The Great Plains.

Interview LC Subject

Singletary, Otis A.

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