Over the first half of the nineteenth century, the American academic emphasis on character building and the demand for professional training solidified within many of the new nation’s outposts of higher education. In college and university contexts, most with substantive religious and denominational moorings, preserving orthodox theological commitments became a subservient goal in light of many institutions’ broader aims related to nation-building and shaping public virtue. The trend, prevalent within many “high Church” academic outposts, was evident among pro-education Baptists as well, as prominent Baptist academics eschewed more traditional theological constructs in favor of more moderate approaches to theology. This paper examines critical theological developments in these early American institutions of higher education, particularly among Baptist academic leaders at the turn of the nineteenth century. The paper argues that key early American Baptist academic leaders, such as Francis Wayland, eschewed sectarian theological positions in favor of more palatable theological systems. In particular, these early nineteenth- century Baptist academic leaders diverted from traditional Calvinistic theology, considered at the time as the pinnacle of orthodox doctrinal commitment, in favor of a more moderate form of Calvinist theology. The paper also notes the ways in which the leaders’ decisions anticipated more serious compromises that emerged among evangelical academics in subsequent decades. To these ends, the paper reflects on the reputation of Calvinistic theology in the early American academic and religious milieu, then surveys a theological trajectory among leaders of American Baptists’ flagship university, Brown University, and among other key nineteenth-century Baptist academics, such as Francis Wayland, Basil Manly, and J.L. Dagg.