Into this gloomy springtime, let me bring a flower or two. Academia (one source of the country's long drift to the left) may be on the brink of change.

In an article on the Pope Center site today, I list four events that are revealing the cavernous gulf between academia and the public. One is Climategate; another, academics' concession that they are indeed liberal; the appearance of Atlas Shrugged in college courses; and, finally, public questioning of the conventional wisdom that"everybody has to go to college."

Once the faultlines are visible, can the earthquake be far behind?