‘The Navy SEALs of Western Civilization’

The leaders of Ralston College attempt to revive our culture by teaching ancient Greek to their humanities grad students.

Excerpt: "Mr. Blackwood sees these students as “the Navy SEALs of Western civilization, prepared to do the heavy lifting of regeneration. It’s a small beginning, but they go out and carry the flame with them.” The gentler Mr. Conlon clarifies that these “Navy SEALs are humanists. The most essential ingredient is a stance of gratitude and love toward the tradition.” One of the reasons Ralston starts its students off in Greece—where they visit Olympia, the theater at Epidaurus, Mycenae and the Lousios Gorge, dotted with Orthodox monasteries—is because Mr. Conlon wants “to wow them with beauty so as to short-circuit their brain.”'