College and Christ

When Protestant fundamentalists founded their network of colleges and universities in the 1920s, they often complained that their ideas and values had been kicked out of mainstream schools. They were right. Since the 1870s, a dramatic revolution had transformed American higher education. Modern research universities no longer inculcated young people with a specific Christian faith, but rather hoped to open students’ minds to the possibilities of knowledge. That religious transformation, however, was only part of the widespread academic revolution. Student culture changed drastically, with new emphasis on sports and student clubs. Universities absorbed professional and technical training programs in fields such as agriculture, law, and engineering.