Keep in mind that a core curriculm is typically quite large and quite rigid. Not many colleges have a core. Many colleges do have General Ed requirements which offer more flexibility but serve a similar purpose as noted above.
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But then that brings up the question of what should be in the core curriculum.
For example, Columbia’s core curriculum is very humanities heavy, while MIT’s core curriculum is very science heavy. Which is better? Or should the core curriculum be heavy with both?
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I think you need to distinguish between common course requirements that all take vs distribution requirements that have flexibility.
MIT requires everyone to have intro bio, intro chem, calc-based mechanics and E&M, and calc through MVC plus 8 humanities courses chosen from a wide range of courses (plus other requirements, including phys ed).
Columbia College requires everyone to take LitHum, ArtHum, MusicHum, Contemporary Civilization, plus a 3 course science requirement (of which one, FroSci, everyone takes) plus some other stuff, including phys ed.
So yeah, overall, Columbia’s requirements are more humanities driven, But MITs is pretty balanced; it’s just that the 6 STEM courses are chosen from a very short list of options
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How about Harvey Mudd’s core (instead of MIT’s GIR) for the purpose of an example of a core very different from Columbia’s?
In addition to Mudd’s common core, it has a humanities/social sciences/arts requirement that has a distribution and depth requirement. The common core and the humanities requirements are essentially outlined in its Mission Statement, “…to educate engineers, scientists and mathematicians WELL ROUNDED IN ALL OF THESE AREAS AND in the humanities, social sciences and the arts…” (my emphases). As Illinoisparent12 mentioned above, there are many examples of students who came in expecting to major in x, but after taking classes in x, y, z, decided to major in y or z.
Additionally, since all students take the common core in the first year and a half, it is used to promote a sense of cooperation and collaboration among students, working together to help everyone get through the core.
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Harvey Mudd has cut back on its core curriculum requirements since the controversies and incidents a few years ago. Its core curriculum used to be closer to those of Caltech and MIT, but it’s now noticeably less demanding.
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There is always talk about kids in STEM moving away from STEM when they discover the joys of humanities 
https://www.quantamagazine.org/june-huh-high-school-dropout-wins-the-fields-medal-20220705/?fbclid=IwAR3iuJSIxcha6nXAA4sUgDR9EnwTwuoPepNw1KCBec7391jeRf23VXMhw5s&mibextid=gLrg5J&fs=e&s=cl
He dropped out of high school to write poetry.
Speaking of poetry, here is a quote from Hilbert about someone else:
“Good, he did not have enough imagination to become a mathematician."
Upon hearing that one of his students had dropped out to study poetry
― David Hilbert
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