Intrigues in the halls of academe

By Andrew Burrell. AS he lay on his deathbed in 1970, Walter Murdoch was informed that the West Australian government had decided to name the state’s second university after him. “Well, it had better be a good one,” he replied tersely.
Almost 45 years later, Sir Walter — the academic and essayist, and a great-uncle of Rupert Murdoch, executive chairman of News Corp — might turn in his grave at the existential crises that have engulfed Murdoch University. Mo