Does Grace College receiving federal grant money violate the U.S. Constitution?
According to the Americans United for Separation of Church and State, it does. According to U.S. Rep. Mark Souder, R-3rd District, it doesn't.
"Let's just say that I'm not a big fan of Americans United for Separation of Church and State," said Souder in a telephone interview Friday afternoon. He said the organization is against Christians and is an harassment group against Christian churches, groups and schools.
Americans United, based in Washington, D.C., sent a seven-page letter to U.S. Dept. of Education Secretary Arne Duncan Thursday indicating the Improvement for Postsecondary Education grant to Grace College violates the U.S. Constitution and federal regulations. The letter also was forwarded to the Times-Union by Americans United Senior Policy Analyst Rob Boston.
The grant was for the period June 15, 2008, to June 14, 2009, for technology upgrades. The $191,593 grant was approved by the Bush administration.
In the letter, signed by Alex J. Luchenitser, senior litigation counsel for Americans United, it states, "Given the inherently religious character of Grace College and its educational program, the Department of Education has failed to put in place effective safeguards to ensure that the grant funds will be used only for secular purposes, as required by the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution.
"Moreover, the specific technology upgrades that the grant subsidizes cannot, as a practical matter, effectively be restricted to secular uses.
"Further, because Grace College compels its students to attend evangelical Christian chapel services, the grant violates Department regulations prohibiting grant recipients from requiring program beneficiaries to participate in inherently religious activities and from discriminating on the basis of religion. Accordingly, we ask that you terminate the grant."
The Constitution's Establishment Clause, according to the letter, prohibits the provision of public aid for religious activity, including religious instruction. This prohibition extends not only to direct spending of government funds on religious activities, but also to the use of government funds to pay for items or activities that are secular in themselves yet are used to support religious programming.
Souder said the U.S. Supreme Court made a definitive ruling and that items such as computers can be funded by taxpayer dollars. Money can't be used for proselytizing, but that's not what the grant money Grace received is being used for.
The absurdity of Americans United's argument, Souder said, is that no one ever opposes federal student loans for students to attend Christian colleges.
Souder said Americans United have "no leg to stand on" and their argument is "not viable."
"What they want to do is change the policy," Souder said. It's not a legal question, he said.
The grant money has not been used by Grace College as of Feb. 4, according to the letter. In early October 2008, Grace attempted to draw down the entire grant amount and use it for past expenses. The Department informed Grace College that this was improper, and Grace College promptly refunded the full amount, according to the letter. Grace since has not yet attempted to draw down the grant funds again.
Luchenitser, in a telephone interview Friday morning, said the grant was an earmark approved as part of a budget bill in late 2007.
He said they reviewed the list of earmarks that were in the budget bill and found about 25 that were Constitutionally questionable. A letter was sent to the Bush administration raising concern about the Constitutionally questionable earmarks.
"Unfortunately, the Bush administration approved most of these earmarks," Luchenitser said.
While reviewing the documentation for the earmarks, Luchenitser said the Grace grant was determined by Americans United to be unconstitutional.
Asked if Grace College would not be eligible for any federal grants, Luchenitser said that is almost true. Because Grace requires students to attend chapel services, the college discriminates based on religion. If a student is not evangelical Christian, he said, they are not able to attend Grace unless they compromise their religious beliefs.
If Grace College were able to set up some separate program that's not religious and open to the public and not just students, and is entirely secular, Luchenitser said the private college could then receive federal grants.
"We're not anti-religion," he said. The separation of church and state is suppose to keep government out of the affairs of the church and vice versa. He said government funding comes with strings attached, and to receive federal funding, religious organizations have to compromise themselves.
"We're all about protecting religious freedom," Luchenitser said.
He said there is still plenty of time to fully remedy approval of this grant because Grace has not used the money yet. Americans United also are investigating a $1 million Homeland Security grant Grace College received.
"This is part of a broader investigation of Constitutionally questionable earmarks approved by the prior administration," he said. Hopefully, he said, the current administration will fix it.
In a telephone interview Friday afternoon, John Boal, chief advancement officer for Grace College, said that as an institution of higher education, Grace makes itself available to a broad prospect of students. He said Grace is no different than a university like Notre Dame in that Notre Dame is a higher institution of learning and also Catholic.
Grace's mission is to be an institution of higher education, Boal said. "We are who we say we are," he said. He said paperwork for these grants are extensive and Grace follows the letter of the law in applying and receiving the grants.
Souder was able to get the grant monies for Grace College. Boal said they are grateful for Souder's efforts.
Americans United, Boal said, have a right to disagree with Grace receiving the grant money, the same way Grace has a right to apply for them. That's the great thing about America, he said, is that there can be disagreement.
"This is not the first time we got a letter like this," Boal said.
He said Grace is committed to its mission of providing a higher education. If the opportunity arises, Boal said, Grace will continue to pursue such funding.
