wfn.org | US Court Decision on College Funds

[APD_Info_Schweiz@compuserve.com]

August 30, 2000
Adventist Press Service (APD)
Christian B. Schaeffler, Editor-in-chief
CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland
Fax +41-61-261 61 18
APD@stanet.ch
http://www.stanet.ch/APD

US Court Says Adventist College Can Receive 
State Funding

Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.   Ruling against the 
arguments of Maryland state officials, a federal 
judge has held that a Seventh-day Adventist-run 
college is eligible to receive funds under a state 
program for private tertiary institutions. Columbia 
Union College (CUC), located in Takoma Park, 
Maryland, has fought for funding under the $40 
million-a-year Sellinger Program since 1990. 

Judge Marvin J. Garbis of the U.S. District Court 
initially denied CUC's claim in 1996, saying that 
the religious mission of the college "pervaded" its 
curriculum. Thus, the judge said, state funding 
would be tantamount to state support for the 
religious mission of the school.

The college appealed the decision to the 4th U.S. 
Circuit Court of Appeals, which ordered the judge to 
reconsider his opinion. In his decision announced 
August 17, Judge Garbis ruled in favor of CUC.

By allowing direct payments of state money to the 
Adventist college, the case expands the limit of 
what is considered acceptable under the 
constitutional principle of separation of church and 
state.  The establishment clause of the First 
Amendment to the United States Constitution states 
that "Congress shall make no law respecting an 
establishment of religion"-a legal principle that 
has spawned decades of litigation on the proper 
relationship between the government and religious 
organizations in the United States.

Established in 1904, CUC is a four-year liberal arts 
college with an enrollment of around 1,200 students. 
Under the Sellinger Program, CUC is eligible for 
some $800,000 per year. It is not known if the state 
will appeal the decision. (263/2000)