"Corporatization," etymologically, likens developments in higher education to those of the business world. Like shooting fish in a barrel, however, merely identifying the multiplying examples of for-profit extrusions, managerial models, let alone ideological legitimations of capitalist logic on university campuses hardly constitutes an honest sport. Rather, the author takes it as the useful purview to seize on what is truly distinctive about the current moment, and perhaps even more importantly, to assess how historians, acting within their own institutions or through larger auspices like the AHA, might best respond to the contemporary challenge. In this article, the author talks about university corporatization, how the patterns of "corporatization" changed since the early 1970s, and what teachers can do about it. While the nature of the problem is complex, the author suggests that there are two areas that beckon for teachers' initiative in the current situation. One is the largely defensive self-protection of unionization. The other arena--open to action at both individual campuses and to professional associations like the AHA--is to reassert standards for liberal arts education, including a strong history core. (Contains 9 notes.)