Davidson College Loses John Belk's Support

Parents Forum
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<p>BTW for anyone interested for nearly 2,000 yeras Christianity has been defined as an adherence to a handfull of beliefs none of which suggest that Christians are better or worse than other people only that Jesus was and that he atoned through his death, suffering, and resurrection for the sins of all mankind. That set of beliefs may stretch credulity or may be irrelevent to the lives of many people but it hardly poses a threat, in this world at least, to the happiness and wellbeing of non-believers - unlike the tenents of some other religions which divide the world into the house of peace and the house of war. For those unfamiliar with defining beliefs of Christianity the Apostle's Creed:</p>

<p>I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord: </p>

<p>Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried. </p>

<p>He descended into hell.</p>

<p>The third day He arose again from the dead. </p>

<p>He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. </p>

<p>I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy *catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.</p>

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<p>Nobody really has any recent data on religious affiliation at Swarthmore, Harvard, or Brown.</p>

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<p>
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I'm not sure the school is as front and center about that as they could be in their marketing materials, but I understand why they would downplay it a bit.

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</p>

<p>On their webpage, their Presbyterian affiliation is the second sentence in "about Davidson." It's listed in their US News & World Report profile as well, I believe the only college among the top-ranked to have/declare a religious affiliation. </p>

<p>I have to ask--if you truly believe it's a fine institution, why do you repeatedly use the pejorative "parochial?" Why praise the board for sticking to its guns despite Belk's feelings, but then speculate that maybe they knew something about his will anyway? </p>

<p>You're entitled to your opinion--although I strenuously disagree with the basis on which you are forming it, which is why I keep posting to this albatross of a thread--but I feel like you are using false praise to reassert your disgust with the place. The positive remarks, in that light, seem disingenuous.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Nobody really has any recent data on religious affiliation at Swarthmore, Harvard, or Brown.

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</p>

<p>Brown shares this information on the US News and World Report website. </p>

<p>I know CIRP asks about the denomination of student and parents, so maybe Brown participated in that recently (just a wild guess). </p>

<p>A few figures for Brown: 13% Jewish, 15% Catholic, 16% Protestant (they didn't break it down into protestant denominations). </p>

<p>Harvard and Swarthmore don't report it (at least not to US News).</p>

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<p>So Protestants are an underrepresented minority at Brown? Who would have thunk it? I wonder if that is a function of the make up of the board or the administration. Are there any plans for affirmatively correct this lack of diversity?</p>

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<p>
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pejorative "parochial?"

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</p>

<p>I didn't know it was pejorative! </p>

<p>Here in the northeast, the parochial high schools (Catholic and Friends are the two biggies) are considered to be among the best academic schools. </p>

<p>I know that 5% of the Swarthmore students come from parochial high schools. Judging from the facebook, I'd say that is split relatively evenly between the Catholic and Friends schools. The Catholic schools are very prominent in Jersey, NY, and New England. The Friends schools are "da bomb" in the Mid Atlantic states from DC (If I recall, both Chelsea Clinton and Amy Carter went to Sidwell Friends School) up through Philly.</p>

<p>The Catholic universities and colleges are also very well-regarded by people here in the northeast. Maybe it's different in other parts of the country, but the northeast, there is nothing "perjorative" about schools strongly affiliated with religious groups at all. They are highly regarded. In many Boston neighborhoods, an acceptance to Notre Dame would be more prized than a slot at Harvard.</p>

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<p>Sorry, Patuxent, but I'm a Quaker, well within the Christian Reformation tradition, and most of us think the Apostles' creed to be purely a matter of speculation. Many of us believe simply that the life and teachings of Jesus set a pattern or model for living. (I am not denying that other Christians don't believe it, only that, as a factual matter, many Christian Quakers do not. Twenty million Thomasine Christians in Kerala apparently didn't either, until western missionaries arrived.) (But we probably should take that conversation to the Cafe.)</p>

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<p>Interesteddad:
Well, you do have to drill down 2 clicks on the website ("Welcome," "About Davidson") to find a discussion of the school's Presbyterian heritage, and a third click ("Statement of Purpose") to reach this:</p>

<p>"The Christian tradition to which Davidson remains committed recognizes God as the source of all truth, and believes that Jesus Christ is the revelation of that God, a God bound by no church or creed. The loyalty of the college thus extends beyond the Christian community to the whole of humanity and necessarily includes openness to and respect for the world’s various religious traditions. Davidson dedicates itself to the quest for truth and encourages teachers and students to explore the whole of reality, whether physical or spiritual, with unlimited employment of their intellectual powers. At Davidson, faith and reason work together in mutual respect and benefit toward growth in learning, understanding, and wisdom.</p>

<p>As a college that welcomes students, faculty, and staff from a variety of nationalities, ethnic groups, and traditions, Davidson values diversity, recognizing the dignity and worth of every person. Therefore, Davidson provides a range of opportunities for worship, civil debate, and teaching that enrich mind and spirit. Further, Davidson challenges students to engage in service to prepare themselves for lives of growth and giving."</p>

<p>Look, I read your earlier posts to mean that you believed the school's relative lack of diversity stemmed from anti-semetic or otherwise bigoted governance. The breezy accusation of Southern white people as bigots is a flashpoint with me, so I got a little riled. My point is that if this was ever such an element of its governance during its modern history (and there is no evidence for that in the news article or the policy, then or now), it did not explain the lack of diversity your wife was concerned about.</p>

<p>Anyway, I just came back to these boards trolling for some good poop for prepping D3 for the New SAT, found my old buddy Interestedad dissing my kid's college (we did rely solely on your advice in picking the school, you know ;)), and wound up injecting myself into the middle of this. Sorry if I over-reacted. Hope your daughter is doing well and having a good time at Swarthmore.</p>

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<p>Quakers are fine folks, at least the ones I've met (Richard Nixon possibly excepted) but how far within Christian Reformation tradition todays Friends are is at least debatable. My own wife raised a good psalm singing full throated Methodists - a worship style a tad removed from the Quaker - was surprised to discover that she "believed" in the physical resurrection of our bodies on Judgement Day despite the fact that she had been reciting the Apostle's Creed for decades:-)</p>

<p>My own inclination in life is to rise to the defense of faith wherever it is openly acknowledge and regardless of how credulous I consider the believers and to mock it wherever it is not openly acknowledged. All reason is based on faith of some sort - take away postulates and there is no geometry, take away cause and effect and there is little science. It is the folks who cannot acknowledge the bizarrness of their own beliefs and feel free to mock anothers whom I find the most credulous of all.</p>

<p>So if anyone wants to be a Quaker or a Catholic, a Hindu, Muslim, or Jew and in the process practice their faith by running institutions that do good for their fellow man I say go for it. But to those offended by faith and ignorant of their own unsupportable assumptions I say there but for the Grace of a good Jesuit education go I - and thanl God for the Protestant Reformation because without we would never have had the Counter Reformation :-)</p>

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<p>parochial is not pejorative when it is used in the sense it is used for K-12 education. It's common usage, not any sort of insult; it's a useful descriptor. Specifically, it means a school affiliated with a parish. </p>

<p>Davidson is not affiliated with a parish. It's not even Catholic. </p>

<p>Therefore, I naturally assumed you meant its other usage, meaning narrow and provincial. It's certainly not complimentary.</p>

<p>
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there is nothing "perjorative" [sic]about schools strongly affiliated with religious groups at all

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</p>

<p>Of course not. I wasn't insulting religiously-affiliated schools at any level, K-12 or college. You don't need to defend their quality in a thread where the majority of the posts (including my own) have been lauding Davidson. I was confused because I've never heard anyone use "parochial" in the way that you have been--not to refer to Quaker schools, and not to refer to a college, specifically a protestant-affiliated one.</p>