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Despite the real stylistic differences between these essays, what is striking are their structural similarities. This is particularly true of the approach used. A few (like Perry Lentz's treatment of Kenyon) are highly literary in nature. Others (especially Mary Ann Janosik's piece on John Carroll) are more thematic in approach, using issues such as community, educational and religious priorities, and modernity to drive the narrative. Most, however, follow a relatively straight chronological approach, often broken down by major historical milestones (such as wars and depressions) and the terms of the college presidents. Nearly all finish with some requisite reflection on the current status of the college in the context of both present circumstances and its overall history. This uniformity of approach is understandable, but makes it difficult for individual essays to stand out and can be a bit wearing when reading the book straight through.
Oddly, perhaps the most fascinating essay is not any one of the forty-three chapters, but rather the Appendix: “Defunct Ohio Private Colleges and Universities” by Erving E. Beauregard. For every private college in Ohio now, there are nearly two that were chartered and did not survive. This essay discusses these eighty schools and seeks common reasons for their foundings and their ultimate failures. Two helpful tables list all of these schools (one for defunct schools, and one for those chartered but never opened), including their locations and years of existence. Beauregard (author of an important history of Ohio 's defunct Franklin College ) addresses a surprisingly wide range of issues in this relatively brief piece, one that could easily have been twice as long without losing the reader's interest. With its breadth of scope in examining these forgotten institutions, Beauregard's essay serves as a fitting coda to an already fairly comprehensive volume.
For all of its finer points, though, there are some serious flaws and missed opportunities evident throughout this book. Perhaps most obviously, the book is copyedited surprisingly poorly throughout, with sometimes glaring mistakes evident in both the text and photo captions. Granted, it adds unintended amusement to read about (for example) the actions of a college's “hoard of trustees” (155), but in general the steady stream of misspellings, typographical errors, missing words, and other such problems distracts the reader from the content and detracts from the enjoyment of the book.
