In The Resilience of Religion in American Higher Education, John Schmalzbauer and Kathleen A. Mahoney observe that religion has staged an unexpected comeback in twenty-first-century American higher education. Such a return certainly contradicts conventional secularization theories that envision society becoming less religious as it becomes more modern. This conclusion also conflicts with historical studies that have chronicled the secularization of the academy. Despite the seemingly irrefutable evidence concerning secularization's impact upon twentieth-century higher education, Schmalzbauer and Mahoney contend that religious frameworks and concepts coexist with the secular and continue to influence American higher education.

Schmalzbauer and Mahoney draw upon social movement theory to identify the sources fueling the revival of religion in higher education. The first chapter outlines the different ways that commentators have framed discussions about religion in higher education. The authors also review how new and extent organizations and networks have mobilized to advocate for the academic study of religion, to strengthen church-related colleges, and to encourage extracurricular religious activities. They also uncover how new resources, most importantly philanthropic foundations, such as the Lilly Endowment, have funded work in each of these areas. The recent resurgence of religion in the academy, Schmalzbauer and Mahoney conclude, came at a propitious moment because the decline of positivism and the rise of postmodernism has lent some legitimacy to religious understandings of reality.

The second chapter explores the growth of the academic study of religion. Conventional interpretations suggest that the college campus is one of the most secular precincts of American culture. Yet recent scholarship demonstrates that the secularization narrative has exaggerated the extent to which the teaching of religion has been marginalized in the academy. In philosophy, history, and psychology, for instance, scholars have rediscovered the sacred as a subject of study. Some scholars promote religion as an object of study, while others advocate scholarship grounded in religious commitments, call for a revitalization of moral and civic education, or promote a new religious pluralism. Despite competing frameworks and agendas, these newfound interests often inhabit the same institutional spaces on college campuses.

Chapter 3 examines the renewal of church-related higher education. As with the growth of the academic study of religion, this revival gained momentum with the emergence of leaders, organizations, and networks devoted to countering secularization. A century ago, leaders of the academic revolution argued that religion's presence in the academy was problematic. Today, proponents of church-related higher education contend that religion's absence is a problem. Since the 1990s, numerous institutions revamped their mission statements to give more attention to religious objectives. Colleges and universities have also taken concrete steps to institutionalize these commitments. For instance, schools began “hiring for mission,” endowing professorships for scholars whose work enhances the institution's religious identity and establishing centers devoted to religion. New programs, such as Valparaiso University's Lilly Fellows Program, cultivate faculty and administrators who can raise their institution's commitment to their religious identity. Despite these initiatives, Schmalzbauer and Mahoney identify uneven participation in revitalization efforts, denominational tensions, and faculty ambivalence about religion's role on campus as forces that may soften enthusiasm for the recent resurgence of religion within church-related colleges.

Chapter 4 reviews the wider significance of religion on America's colleges and universities. Contrary to the secularization thesis, religion is not declining but instead thriving on many campuses. The evangelical InterVarsity Christian Fellowship has chapters on more than 1,000 campuses, the Catholic Church has approximately 2,200 campus ministers, the Hillel Foundation is active on five hundred fifty campuses, the Muslim Students’ Association has over five hundred chapters, and the Hindu Students Council has chapters at more than fifty universities. While the vitality of various religious organizations reflect the innovative quality of American religion, conflicts have sometimes emerged between some groups and the policies of universities. Evangelical groups, for instance, have run afoul of some universities nondiscrimination standards.

The fifth chapter analyzes the significance of religion on campus. Here Schmalzbauer and Mahoney focus upon the ways that religion fosters civic education, informs the arts, and sustains public discourse. In each of these areas—politics, arts, and ideas—religion has promoted interfaith dialogue and toleration as well as provoked cultural conflict and political polarization.

In the final chapter, Schmalzbauer and Mahoney ponder the future of religion in higher education. Although religion has made a comeback over the past thirty years, its future remains uncertain because of fiscal challenges, the growing disinterest in religion among millennials, and globalization.

Schmalzbauer and Mahoney have made a valuable contribution to the study of the history of religion in American higher education. Their work joins the growing chorus of scholars who raise substantive doubts about conventional secularization theories. A second virtue of this study is its panoramic perspective. The volume explores the academic study of religion, church-related higher education, extracurricular religious activities, religion in the arts, economic factors, and the role of philanthropic organizations. Moreover, the study does an excellent job of unraveling how particular narratives, such as the decline of American religion, frame popular analyzes about the role of religion in higher education. The authors also avoid the histrionics of both cultural warriors on the religious right and the progressive opponents of religion on the secular left but instead offer a carefully constructed analysis. Although the first five chapters of the work present a rather optimistic picture of the role of religion in higher education, the final chapter tempers that enthusiasm with a realistic assessment of the challenges facing religion. In the end, The Resilience of Religion in American Higher Education captures the complex role that religion continues to play in American higher education.