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Davidson College drops trustee church rule, but "Christian" commitment still stands
Rarely is the watering down of a college's religious commitments spelled out so clearly than in the revisions to the Davidson College Statement of Purpose and bylaws, approved last week by the board of trustees.

No longer does the North Carolina college seek "ties which bind the college to the Presbyterian Church." (Davidson has official ties to the Presbyterian Church U.S.A.) Now it's "ties that bind the college to its Presbyterian heritage." And where the school used to "intend that this vital relationship be continued to the mutual benefit of church and school," it now doesn't say that it wants to benefit the church.

Likewise, the new statement dropped the line that it's "a college whose tradition commits it to nurture the life of the spirit."

Fortunately, the trustees rejected the most astounding change proposed by ad hoc committee of its members. The proposal had "Davidson commits itself to a Christian tradition that recognizes God as the source of all truth" replaced with "The religious tradition that has shaped Davidson recognizes God as the source of all truth." The final version now says "The Christian tradition to which Davidson remains committed recognizes God as the source of all truth."

But thanks to changes to the school's bylaws, the trustees don't have to actually think that means anything. Gone is the rule that "persons elected as trustees have been active members of a Christian church." Now it's a bit more complicated:

Historically, persons elected as trustees have been active members of a Christian church. In openness to and respect for the world's various religious traditions and the variety of religious preferences among the graduates and friends of Davidson, the nominating committee and the alumni association may recommend persons for the office of trustee who are not active members of a Christian church but who meet all other criteria for serving as a trustee. As part of continuing the historic commitment of Davidson to the reformed tradition of the Christian faith, the nominating committee shall insure that at least 80% of all elected trustees are active members of a Christian church.

At least the trustees acknowledge that it's no longer a Christian college. Where trustees used to be asked to pledge "to be faithful in promoting the purpose of the college and in seeking to increase its effectiveness as an institution of Christian learning," they're now asked to "be faithful in promoting the purpose of the college, seeking to honor the traditions that have shaped Davidson as a place where faith and reason work together in mutual respect for service to God and humanity."

At Davidson, apparently, it's best to view religion as an old historical thing that's shaped stuff in the past rather than something that "nurtures the life of the spirit" and has an active, present role in directing one's educational aims.

"Davidson had already gone down the road to secularization long before the trustees voted to change the college's statement of purpose and bylaws," John H. Adams writes in a commentary for The Layman Online. Still, pastor and Davidson alumnus James C. Goodloe complained last month, "The motivations for such changes come from outside our faith. They are alien to our tradition. They are necessarily destructive to our heritage."

Super Bowl shenanigans
Conservative news site WorldNet Daily uncovered an odd bit of Super Bowl commercial trivia: The founder and president of GoDaddy.com, which broadcast the racy "wardrobe malfunction" commercial during the game, is also the founder of Parsons Technology, creator of the bestselling Bible software QuickVerse. He sold the company in 1999.

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February (Web-only) 2005, Vol. 49