Illiberal Arts

To find the origins of Yale university, don't go to New Haven, Conn., the New England city where this hallowed American institution of higher learning sits. Instead, head to the old British redoubt of Fort St. George in Chennai, India. This was where, in the late 17th century, a certain Elihu Yale made his fortune as a top official of the East India Co. His riches enabled him to eventually donate a carton of books and cloth in 1718 to an obscure college across the oceans in colonial Connecticut. Those items, summarily sold for the kingly sum of £562,...