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For example, one of the themes shared by nearly all of the Protestant colleges examined is the issue of financial instability, particularly in the institution's early years and during times of national economic stress. A number of these schools either suspended operation temporarily (e.g. Antioch, Ashland, Urbana, Wilberforce) or came close to shutting their doors for good (e.g. Bluffton, Baldwin-Wallace, Mount Union, Lake Erie, and Muskingum, to name only a few), and were saved from extinction either by dogged presidential leadership, timely largesse (from alumni, affiliated denominations, or community), or both. Perhaps as significantly, the Catholic institutions profiled were relatively freer from the kinds of dire economic exigencies suffered by their Protestant counterparts. Although it is not explicitly stated by the authors of these pieces, the implication seems to be that the Catholic Church provided surer financial support of its four-year schools than did most Protestant denominations, or at least that the Catholic colleges took advantage of lower overhead costs achieved by using Church property for classes and employing priests and/or nuns as faculty.
Another theme that becomes increasingly evident throughout this book is the profound impact war made on nearly all of the institutions profiled. War could have both baneful and beneficial influences on these colleges, occasionally at the same time. For example, major conflicts like the Civil War and World War II claimed so many students for the armed services that enrollments in all institutions. Colleges with strong German roots (e.g., Wittenberg, Baldwin-Wallace) met with marked anti-German hostility from their local communities during World War I. The situation was even more difficult for institutions affiliated with pacifist denominations (e.g. Wilmington and the Quakers, Bluffton and the Mennonites). A high percentage of students and faculty at these institutions were opposed to war, raising accusations of disloyalty from the community and sometimes government officials. Such tribulations sorely tested the conscience cradled by these schools.
Conversely, nearly all of the authors mark World War II and its aftermath as a watershed event in the growth of their institutions. During the war, the U.S. government chose most Ohio colleges as locations for military training centers. This timely government intervention brought both new students and cash to schools greatly in need of both thanks to the Depression and the draft. Furthermore, the G.I. Bill filled campuses across the state to overflowing, ushering in an era of growth and prosperity that these colleges had rarely (if ever) experienced in the past. World War II was not the only war to provide generous windfalls either: ROTC programs and college deferments to the baby-boom generation during the Vietnam War had similar effects during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
