explicitly. designed to cultivate their students' spiritual and moral na tures. But over the course of the 20th century they became officially or effec tively secular. Religious rituals like mandatory chapel services were dropped. Academic research and teaching replaced character formation at the core of the university's mission Administrators and professors dropped spiritual language and moral prescription either because they didn't know what to say or because they didn't want to alienate any part oftheir diversifying constituencies. The humanities departments became less important, while parents ratcheted up the pressure for career training. Universities are more professional and