Even so ardent a defender of the modern methodology as Harvard's Charles Eliot continued to espouse a deep conviction in the divine and in the existence of a divine order. Roberts and Turner certainly acknowledge this, but not sufficiently. Rather than religious beliefs giving way entirely, they sat side by side with humanistic and scientific frameworks. Only in the mid-20th century would religious beliefs become rare within academe. That there has been a continuous reinvention of the university should come as no surprise.
Universities are social institutions and by their very nature are subject to change.
Nor should it be a surprise that the university resists synthesis. It may be frustrating to manage a school with parts that refuse to coalesce, but as Roberts and Turner stress, the secular university knows no other form. All rights reserved.