Davidson College has gone far on road to secularization
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online, February 9, 2005
Even while the trustees of Davidson College were meeting over the weekend of Feb. 4-6 and voting to allow non-Christians to serve on the board, students, faculty and staff of the school were collaborating in three performances of the Vagina Monologues, a play that extols radical feminism and non-Christian sexual ethics.
Davidson, an academically elite liberal arts college with historic ties to the Presbyterian Church (USA) and its predecessor denominations, had already gone down the road to secularization long before the trustees voted to change the college’s statement of purpose and bylaws.
The college once required its students to attend chapel services. No longer. It once required faculty members to be Christians. No longer. It once banned drinking alcoholic beverages. No longer.
The school still has many of the trappings of the Christian faith. It employs a full-time chaplain. Davidson Presbyterian Church anchors the most prominent real estate near the main entrance to the campus, but relatively few of the college’s 1,700 students attend.
There are a number of religious organizations on campus, and some, including Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship, unhesitatingly proclaim the gospel of Christ. But the college describes its religious mission as broadly ecumenical beyond the Christian faith.
“Religious life at Davidson College is celebrated on the affirmation that we are all children of God, whatever our creed, heritage or beliefs,” the college says on its religious life Web page. “As a Presbyterian church-related college, Davidson values the life of the spirit and fosters openness to and respect for the world’s various faith traditions.”
One of the organizations under the supervision of the chaplain’s office is the Interfaith Fellowship, in which “Buddhists, Christians, Jews, Muslims, and students of other faith traditions, or those who are spiritual seekers apart from organized religion, join together for meals, discussion, and visits to a variety of houses of worship.”
And one of the recognized student groups is the Gay Alliance, which “provides a safe space for all lesbians, bisexuals, gay people, heterosexual allies, those of diverse gender identity, and those questioning their sexuality or gender.”
At least one Davidson alumnus, Dr. Jim Goodloe, who earned a Ph.D. in historical theology from the University of Chicago, urged the trustees not to weaken the school’s Christian commitment. The college’s bylaws had required that all trustees be members of Christian churches. The change allows up to 20 percent of the trustees to be non-Christian.
“I am appalled that Davidson College would consider lessening the requirements for being a Trustee. The Presbyterian Church has already given away more schools in this country than money could buy. Why do we want to give away another?” Goodloe said in a letter to the trustees. [Complete text of letter is below.]
Goodloe, the pastor of Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church in Richmond, Va., also said, “I am appalled that an attempt would be made to appeal to the Christian faith for justification for such an abandonment of the Christian faith. The suggestion that these recommendations represent continuing support of Davidson’s faith heritage and connection with the Presbyterian Church is disingenuous. This is horrible.”
Davidson College was established by Presbyterians in 1837 as an all-male school. According to CollegeBoard.com, 48 percent of the 1,702 students currently enrolled are female.
On its news releases, the school includes a signature statement as the closing paragraph, with no mention of its Christian or Presbyterian roots. That statement says, “Davidson is a highly selective independent liberal arts college for 1,600 students. Since its establishment in 1837, the college has graduated 23 Rhodes Scholars and is consistently ranked among the top liberal arts colleges in the country by U.S. News and World Report magazine. Davidson is engaged in ‘Let Learning Be Cherished,’ a $250 million campaign in support of student financial assistance, academic resources, and community life.”
The school is in the small town of Davidson, a few miles from Charlotte. It is one of 66 private colleges and universities that are affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), but only a handful emphasize the Reformed faith as central to the academic preparation.
Davidson is also one of the highest-priced schools among the PCUSA institutions. CollegeBoard.com says tuition, room and board, and personal expenses this scholastic year are $37,079, in a tier just below what some Ivy League schools charge for undergraduate education. (Harvard, $43,391; Yale, $41,370; Princeton, $40,806; Dartmouth, $39,576.)
The text of Goodloe’s letter to trustees
I am in receipt of a letter of December 1, 2004, and its enclosures, from Kevin R. Hanna, President, Davidson College Alumni Association, in regard to a series of recommendations being considered by the Board of Trustees. I am writing to urge the Board to vote against all of these.
There are at least three severe problems here. One is changing the requirements for being a Trustee. A second is the argument that it is consistent with our Christian faith to do so. And a third is the creation of a chair in the religion department as an attempt to smooth over the first two.
First, then, I am appalled that Davidson College would consider lessening the requirements for being a Trustee. The Presbyterian Church has already given away more schools in this country than money could buy. Why do we want to give away another?
Second, and this is my greatest concern, I am appalled that an attempt would be made to appeal to the Christian faith for justification for such an abandonment of the Christian faith. The suggestion that these recommendations represent continuing support of Davidson‚s faith heritage and connection with the Presbyterian Church is disingenuous. This is horrible.
There is, for instance, a severe problem contained in the letter of September 27, 2004, from the Members of the Ad Hoc Committee to The Davidson College Board of Trustees. At the top of the second page, the suggestion is made that since our minds are limited we need to be reforming our Statement of Purpose. But that is not the motivation for reform in our heritage. The motivation for reform is the realization that we might be more obedient to God. Moreover, the will of God is understood to be made known in the Word of God. Thus, reform is not willy-nilly change. Reform is not “Let’s do something different.” And reform is certainly not an attempt to conform to the politically correct ideologies of the day. Reform is, instead, always “according to the word of God.”
Thus the questions arise: Where in our Christian and Reformed heritage is there any indication or encouragement that we should be yoked with unbelievers? Where in our heritage is there any justification given that we should squander our heritage? Where in our tradition is there any suggestion that we should throw away what our fathers and mothers have given us? How in the world could it possibly be faithful, helpful, or obedient to bring non-Christians into the leadership and decision making structure of what is supposed to be a Christian institution?
I submit to you that the recommendation to remove the requirement for Trustees to be Christian cannot possibly in any way be supported by an appeal to the Bible, to the Christian faith in general, or to the Reformed tradition in particular. That simply cannot be. The motivations for such changes come from outside our faith. They are alien to our tradition. They are necessarily destructive to our heritage. I urge you not to be taken in by them, no matter how smoothly and soothingly they might be presented.
As for the Statement of Purpose, the recommendation to move from a present pledge of faith (“Davidson commits itself to a Christian tradition that recognizes God as the source of all truth”) to an historical observation (“The religious tradition that has shaped Davidson recognizes God as the source of all truth”) can hardly be considered an advance in faithfulness or veracity. It smacks of sleight of hand. It is clearly a move away from the Christian faith. It would be better to be honest about that! But the attempt to depict such a move precisely as faithful is especially outrageous.
As for the proposed revision to the Trustee By-laws, the attempt to allow non-Christians onto the Board of Trustees is nothing less than an abdication of your responsibilities and a giving away of the school. Students, graduates, and friends of Davidson College should realize that it is a Christian college. If they do not like that, they can befriend other colleges. There is no reason for this college to cease being what it is in order to appeal to people from outside its heritage.
We need to be entirely clear about this. To bring non-Christians, however fine they are otherwise, into the governing and decision making life of the institution, would be by definition to bring the college under alien influences and therefore to abandon its Christian heritage. There is no other possible outcome of such a move.
Third, I am appalled that a recommendation to establish a chair of Reformed theology should be brought forward as a part of this group of recommendations, ostensibly to pacify Presbyterian Christians concerned about the first two. That is patronizing and disgusting. Even if such a chair might otherwise be useful, it would be forever tainted as a part of this deal. The school cannot be kept Christian by a religion department. We need for the Trustees to be Christian.
Most of you have no reason to know me. Let me say that I am a graduate of Davidson College. I am also a student of Christianity and the Reformed tradition, having a Ph.D. in historical theology from The University of Chicago. I am also a minister of the gospel, in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). I urge you to reject all of these recommendations.
James C. Goodloe IV, pastor
Grace Covenant Church
Richmond, Va.