Governance: A Community of Self-Governing Scholars?

Abstract

Although the collegial tradition is composed of a range of variables at its very core is the idea of a community of self-governing scholars. While collegial institutions may lack financial resources (brotherhoods of poor scholars) or may not be devoted to the pursuit of learning (committed to saving souls rather than expanding knowledge), the essence of their collegial identity is the ability to determine their own fates, that they are self-governing institutions. The historical evidence demonstrates both the longevity of this idea and its perpetual internal tensions.