While Asbury University’s current revival appears a modern anomaly, it is very much in keeping with the history of higher education in America.
Revival and Moral Philosophy: A Founding Vision for American Higher Education
The First Great Awakening: From British Revival to American Revolution
By linking the choice of new birth with his audience’s choice of a new American identity, British evangelist George Whitefield provided a common American experience that unified diverse colonists who lacked a common identity