Thomas Jefferson loathed Plato. In 1814, he wrote to John Adams that he had been reading the Republic and came away unimpressed: “Bringing Plato to the test of reason, take from him his sophisms, futilities, & incomprehensibilities, and what remains?” The only reason the Greek philosopher is so revered, Jefferson opined, is that “education is chiefly in the hands of persons who, from their profession, have an interest in the reputation and the dreams of Plato.” Even so, Jefferson would have been appalled by what happened last week at Texas A&M University. Days before the spring semester began, Martin Peterson,...