For the first few years of LERN’s history, we weren’t called LERN. We were called the Free University Network.
And this year is the 50th anniversary of the Free Speech Movement and the first free university.
Free universities had an educational philosophy that was regarded as heresy, that “anybody could teach and anybody could learn.” And they had an innovative model of frequent brochures and lots of classes.
They became so successful that their philosophy and model became adopted by every major lifelong learning institution in North America, including recreation departments, community education, and continuing education in colleges and universities.
The free university model is still relevant. Last month a young graduate student at Harvard contacted LERN about her research on free universities.
