Darwin and the Crisis of 1882 in the Medical Department

When chemistry professor Edwin Lewis praised Darwin’s methods in his 1882 commencement speech at Beirut’s Syrian Protestant College, he set off a fierce and extended battle over freedom of expression between liberals and conservatives that over the next few years caused nearly half the senior faculty to resign, many students to be suspended, and enrollment to plunge. Although the conservatives initially won adoption of a Christian “Declaration of Principles” mandatory for all faculty, it was repealed by 1902.