You have a point! At our university, I made a point of getting on our "General Education Committee" which was tasked with creating a new general education "framework". I was hoping to nudge things towards a core-curriculum model. No such luck. Our gen ed requirements are even more nebulous and abstract than before. The model I had in mind is what they have in Texas: all public universities there have a tight core where students are obliged to choose maybe two dozen courses from a list of maybe four dozen. Their requirements include such things as 6 credit hours of US history (or 3 credit hours of US history and 3 credit hours of Texas history). We, on the other hand, have requirements such as "Methods of Inquiry and Investigation in the Social Sciences" which can be met by any of a zillion courses (e.g., you can avoid history if you wish). The Texas system was installed state-wide by the legislature. The professoriate, left to its own devices, will never ever agree to a Texas-style core curriculum.
"The professoriate, left to its own devices, will never ever agree to a Texas-style core curriculum."
It's amazing that people can't see the wisdom in a system like they have in Texas. I suppose it somehow steps on their personal agenda.