e denominational, but not sectarian.

It is equally unfair to assert that our State universities are godless
and run by political parties. The managers of them have possibly laid
themselves open to this criticism because they often fail to
recognize either the scientific bases or practical value of religion
and do not permit it to rank equally with the other sciences in the
courses of study. The right policy would not necessarily involve the
teaching of religious dogma, but only of facts concerning man's
spiritual nature, and the relative importance of the Christian
religion among the religious systems of the world to meet the demands
of man as a religious being. No reasonable man in a Christian nation
should object to this recognition of the science of religion. The
State universities should be at least religious in character without
having any denominational bias. The teaching of dogma in our colleges
for the sake of dogma would be narrow bigotry and rightly deserving of
censure. The State universities are as likely to be open to this
charge as the denominational colleges. The dogmas of scientists,
politicians, legalists and physicians are as intolerant and engender
as much strife as those of theologians. We are glad to believe
however, that the dogmatic spirit in all lines of study is fast
disappearing from our American colleges, and from the professions.

Again, the majority of the professors in the State universities are
avowedly Christian. Possibly one-third of the State universities have
Christian clergymen for presidents. After careful inquiry from those
in a position to know, it was ascertained that in one of the oldest
State universities there were eight professors out of more than one
hundred who were unbelievers or skeptics, and in one of the youngest
there were but three known skeptics among more than eighty professors.
Even this small number should not be possible, because one
"anti-Christian sophist or a velvet-footed infidel" may work moral and
religious disaster to the young in any college. "A college," remarks
President Gates, "must be either avowedly and openly Christian, or by
the very absence of avowed Christian influence it will be strongly
and decidedly un-Christian in its effects upon students."

The State universities will gain greater influence if they will
rigidly exclude from their teaching force the brilliant skeptic who
"becomes the center of a coterie without his gifts, dazzled by his
b