Director: Daniel C. Levy

Yale Cuts Tie to Its Church

(Entry by Daniel C. Levy)

PROPHE Summary:
In a controversial move, Yale University is cutting its link to Battell Chapel. Proponents argue that any tie to a particular church limits the welcoming inclusiveness of the university, including to students with different religious affiliations. Critics say that the move is a needless blow to tradition and perhaps a needless swipe at religious identity. Yale was founded in 1701 by congregational ministers, though the Battell tie dates only to 1961.

For the full story, see the New York Times, April 12, 2005, "In Quest to be More Welcoming, Yale is Severing Ties to a Church," by Alison Leigh Cowan.

PROPHE Observation:
This controversy is more symbolic and evocative than substantively important. Battell Chapel and, much more importantly and surely, Yale University, will not notably change. Yet the cutting of ties is one more reminder of how secular Yale and other leading U.S. private universities are and how distant are their historical religious roots. The severance is also reflective of how diverse the contemporary student bodies are at such institutions. Whether academically elite private institutions might grow in other countries and, if so, whether they might have religious affiliations of significance, are open questions.