When top LACs and universities state that they are affiliated with a specific religious denomination (often the Methodist Church, Episcopal Church or Presbyterian Church (USA), what does that actually mean?
For example, there are plenty of colleges that state that they are affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), but they certainly wouldn’t qualify as “Christian colleges” (in the sense that Regent University or Wheaton (IL) would. I believe that Duke and Emory Universities are officially affiliated with the Methodist Church but they certainly aren’t “Christian colleges” in that sense.
Does the church body give a small amount of funding to the college? Does the church body have any role in governance of the school? Or is the official affiliation just a nominal acknowledgement that the church played a role in the school’s organization and growth for a long time, and permission by the school to have a church building of that denomination on campus?
Thanks.
The answer is going to be different for every school. Both Duke and Emory have historically had a majority of their trustees selected by the Methodist regional conferences. Duke formally ended this just last year, but informally a loophole (only trustees nominated by the existing trustees) had been used to effectively make the role of the church one of confirmation only, not actually appointment. I am not sure where Emory stands on this, but I suspect that it is still in the situation where the charter has a majority of trustees selected by the Methodist church, but the reality of practice is slightly different.
Because almost all historical LAC were started with church ties, there will still be informal ties among many of them that include the “official” university chaplain being a member of a specific denomination, scholarships funded by the denomination, and discounts for children of clergy in the denomination. But that is about it for most of these. Universities and LACs are historically left-leaning, and many churches lost the battle for control of their universities gradually over decades when they weren’t fully aware there was any battle going on. The financial ties that are still present have likewise become a pittance of the overall school budgets.
You mention Regents and Wheaton as examples of “Christian Colleges”. These may be more representative of “Evangelical Christian Colleges.” There are many Catholic Universities that are also still distinctly “Christian” in practice. Just as many of the protestant universities have leaned to the left, so have many denominations over time, so that schools that still have denominational affiliations may accurately reflect the current practices of those denominations that are themselves not concordant with historic statements of faith.
So the answer is pretty simple, ant probably what you expected. Most schools with historic denomination ties still have some relationship with that denomination, but it is not enough to really influence the direction, vision, or choices of the university.
If you look hard, however, you will find schools that still are acting as “Christian colleges” that you may not have thought of at first. Pepperdine (affiliated with Church of Christ) is one example of a LAC that tries to walk the line between recognition as a competitive LAC and holding more that lip-service to its Christian affiliation. Baylor University (affiliated with Southern Baptists), with it’s athletic program scandals, is an example of a larger University that some may dismiss as a pharisaic at best, but if you actually talk to the administration and professors (and look at their choice of a new President last week), you will find a strong desire to be a distinctly and authentically Christian.
I hope that answers some of your questions and contributes to the discussion.