ABSTRACT
The declension narrative now constitutes a premise in virtually any discussion of the relations between the liberal arts college and the research university. The equivocal message of the early declension literature came fully to light in Leon Richardson's 1924 study, which reported the results of a national survey undertaken at the request of the president of Dartmouth College. The lamentation that liberal arts colleges were "much diminished" persisted subsequently in the declension literature. Among the Jeremiads echoing through higher education in recent decades, one of the most often heard is the declension narrative of the liberal arts college. According to the declension narrative in its strongest form, the university and the liberal arts college represent two distinct and competing educational and institutional ideologies. Furthermore, the university—especially the public university—has grown stronger, while the liberal arts college, particularly the private liberal arts college, has weakened over the past 125 years.
