The College Fix

Duke’s Methodist affiliation could eventually render the University unable to police its own campus.

The North Carolina Court of Appeals dismissed drunken driving charges against Julie Yencer Aug. 17, after she argued that because Davidson College is connected with the Presbyterian Church, her arrest by a campus police officer was an excessive and unconstitutional government entanglement with religion. The court held that because Davidson’s governing body retains “significant religious ties”—namely the requirement that 24 of the school’s 44 trustees be active members of the Presbyterian Church—the college can be classified as a religious institution and thus be stripped of its ability to exercise state police power.

While the N.C. Supreme Court has since delayed the enforcement of the decision, citing Davidson’s immediate need to provide public safety on campus, the case has cast a spotlight on schools that maintain religious relationships and sparked debate about the separation of church and state on campuses. Although Duke’s ties to the United Methodist Church are not as strong as those between Davidson and the Presbyterian Church, its affiliation with the church may make it susceptible to a similar legal challenge.

Indeed, Durham-based attorney Bill Thomas plans to challenge Duke University Police Department’s arrest powers on the same grounds.

“I think you’ll see that in the immediate future,” Thomas told the Herald-Sun.

He added that language in Duke’s bylaws suggests an “adherence to the Christian tradition and [the promotion of] Christianity.” He did not respond to repeated requests for comment from The Chronicle.

Duke’s bylaws state that the University’s aims are to “assert a faith in the eternal union of knowledge and religion set forth in the teachings and character of Jesus Christ” and specify that of the 36 elected members of the Board of Trustees—Duke’s governing body—24 must be elected by two of North Carolina’s Methodist Conferences.

Read the full story at the Duke Chronicle.

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