I teach American Gov't to 150+ freshmen every semester. One of my favorite things to do is to ask them, "How many rights and liberties does our Constitution grant us?"

They are good kids (Big 10, I am tenured), diverse and motivated.

Some will say 10 (number of the Bill of Rights amendments), some will say more (the 1st contains several).

They are always interested when I say, "None. Our rights and liberties are ours. We were born with them. The framers always intended the Constitution to limit the power of government (and also to remind us of our natural born rights and liberties)."

As long as I live in a country where I can teach that, I have hope.

To those who think that colleges and universities are lost, maybe not.