This article reflects on a college transitioning into a university in the Canadian context and resisting the temptation to re-create a model of higher education committed to specialization alone. Instead, the university commits all its degree students to a general education, thereby also committing itself to an ideal associated with a diverse, multiethnic, multicultural, rights-oriented public square. By referring to some popular figures and discussions in the media, the article suggests that a general education includes a promise of incompletion and renewal.