wfn.org | US Court Rules on State Funds for Adventist College

[APD <APD_Info_Schweiz@compuserve.com>]

July 8, 2001
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

Adventist College Can Receive State Funds, United 
States Court Rules

Takoma Park, Maryland, USA (ANN/APD)  A Seventh-day 
Adventist college in Maryland is eligible to receive 
tate government funding, a United States court 
ruled June 26.

The decision comes after an 11-year quest by Columbia 
Union College to gain funding under the Sellinger 
Program, a state program that distributes grants to 
private colleges in Maryland.

"Columbia Union College is pleased and satisfied with 
the results of the decision," said Randal Wisbey, 
president of CUC, in a statement released June 28.

Columbia Union College cannot be excluded from the 
Sellinger Program solely because of its religious nature, 
said a three-member panel of the 4th Circuit Court of 
Appeals. By denying a grant only on the basis of religion 
,"the government risks discriminating against a class of 
citizens solely because of faith," the court said. 

Direct state funding of CUC would not violate the United 
States Constitution's Establishment Clause "[b]ecause 
state aid is allocated on a neutral basis to an 
institution of higher education which will not use the 
funds for any sectarian purpose . . .," wrote Chief 
Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson.

CUC first applied for funds under the Sellinger Program 
in 1990. In 1992, state officials denied CUC's application 
on the basis that CUC was "pervasively sectarian"--that 
the religious and secular purposes of the school were so 
intertwined that they could not be separated. Thus, the 
religious purpose of CUC would inevitably be advanced by 
any government funding, the state argued.

However, a district court ruled in August 2000 that CUC 
is not fundamentally different from the religious schools 
that currently receive aid under the program and so to 
deny CUC funding would violate the principle of equal 
protection under the law. 

After examining the evidence, the district court said 
that the Adventist Church "exerted dominance over college 
affairs" and that hiring and admissions preferences were 
given to Adventist Church members.  But the court also 
said that the "primary goal and function of Columbia 
Union College is to provide a secular education even 
though it has a definite and strong secondary goal to 
teach with a 'Christian vision.'" 

In CUC's June 28 statement, Wisbey reaffirmed the 
college's commitment to its Statement of Community 
Ethos, saying, "[W]e value faith in God, we celebrate 
the goodness of creation, the dignity of diverse peoples 
and the possibility of human transformation. Through 
worship and shared life, we uphold spiritual integrity 
and are committed to achieving it."