Colleges and universities have largely abandoned their traditional stance in loco parentis, as moral guardians over student life, and instead seek to promote toleration while preventing conflict. In doing so, argues David A. Hoekema, they fail to provide an atmosphere conducive to the attainment of the kind of responsible independence that such goals presuppose.

"David A. Hoekema . . . has written an entertaining, good-humored, and pointed account of the stages by which American higher education has moved away from the 'Rin loco parentis' doctrine, and he also has documented the sometimes befuddled and even comic attempts to find alternative ways of defining campus 'community'." - Academe

"...well thought out and deserves extensive consideration...a thoughtful discussion..." - Ethics: An International Journal of Social, Political, and Legal Philosophy