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Along with the effects of war, other common themes among these schools include ones that defined larger changes in American society and higher education. For example, debates over the introduction of co-education and/or the admission of African-American students mark the history of many of the institutions profiled. Similarly, most of the essays make direct or indirect reference to the loosening of school rules and the gradual demise of in loco parentis status over the years. Furthermore, nearly all of the colleges faced the issue of curriculum reform in some manner, whether it was the classical vs. modern elective system, the liberal arts vs. vocational education, or a secular vs. a religious orientation.
Other themes are not as universal, but are surprisingly common. Debates over whether to allow Greek-letter fraternities and sororities on campus, for example, mark many of these narratives. More seriously, devastating fires beset a number of schools, highlighting the prevalence of this hazard in the 19th and early 20th centuries. These fires were particularly serious for small colleges, as such schools often ran on a shoestring budget from a single building. Thus, when a fire struck, it could carry away not just the Old Main, but all school possessions as well. Because of this, fires doomed at least two Ohio colleges, and came close to shuttering several others.
Perhaps the most pervasive theme shared by most of these institutions, though, is the tension between their largely religious roots and increasingly secularizing trends in standard curricula and academe in general. Ohio colleges dealt with these tensions in a continuum of ways, from achieving truly independent secular status, to maintaining some form of denominational affiliation, to embracing ever more tightly their religious orientation. This theme provides a shared point of reference as well as some of the most compelling contrasts in these narratives. This is an important feature for a book that struggles, at times, with less-than-compelling composition.
As may be expected from a large anthology, the essays are somewhat uneven stylistically. Although most are generally dispassionate in tone, almost all are also (perhaps understandably) tinged with affection to lesser or greater degrees. Some, however, go beyond mere tingeing and are unabashedly subjective. This subjectivity ranges from vigorously and approvingly touting the institution's religious doctrines or mission (Murray Murdock's Cedarville essay is only one example of this) to the actual use of personal pronouns like “we” and “our” in describing the school (see, for example, John Carrigg's treatment of Franciscan University). One piece in particular (Kelli Nowlin and Helga Kittrell on Franklin University) abandons all pretense of objectivity and reads like nothing less than a promotional piece of literature from the institution's public relations department. The background of the authors chosen to write the essays can explain much of this stylistic diversity. While most of the authors are historians (or in a couple of cases, history graduate students), nearly 40% are not. The latter group includes English professors (3), archivists and librarians (4), administrators (directors or vice presidents of development or public relations) (5), a theologian, and a former student. As such, the flavor of the narratives occasionally veers away from traditional historical idioms toward those characteristic of the background and training of the authors.
