There was time when universities were citadels of ideas and engaged the public on issues of the day. They had intellectuals and a culture of intellectualism which, as Ali Mazrui would claim, were fascinated with ideas. In that culture, when not in class pushing students to be critical thinkers, lecturers productively spent time in one of three university places.

First, they were in offices musing about fresh thoughts while looking at the ceiling and waiting for students to consult them on some complicated issue covered during the lectures. Second, they were friends of the library, the store of knowledge, where they went to dig deep into assorted topics and write articles or seminar papers. Third, when not in offices or library, they were in the Senior Common Room arguing about minute details of the latest trend in the world of ideologies, theories, or research.