Opinion ID: 471757
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Nature of the Institution

Text: 9 In Catholic Bishop, the Supreme Court found a significant risk of entanglement by focusing primarily on the nature and purpose of the institutions affected. According to the Court, the holding in Catholic Bishop was premised on the critical and unique role of the teacher in fulfilling the mission of a church-operated school. 440 U.S. at 501, 99 S.Ct. at 1319. The Supreme Court noted that the schools in Catholic Bishop were similar to those at issue in Lemon v. Kurtzman; in both cases, [r]eligious authority necessarily pervades the school system. 440 U.S. at 501, 99 S.Ct. at 1319 (quoting Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602, 617, 91 S.Ct. 2105, 2113, 29 L.Ed.2d 745 (1971). In Lemon and its progeny, the key role played by teachers in religious elementary and secondary schools was the predicate for [the Court's] conclusions that governmental aid to such schools creates an impermissible entanglement between government and religion. Catholic Bishop, 440 U.S. at 501, 99 S.Ct. at 1319. In Catholic Bishop, the Court found that Board jurisdiction over faculty-administration relationships in schools permeated with a religious mission would similarly create a significant risk of entanglement. Catholic Bishop, 440 U.S. at 502-03, 99 S.Ct. at 1319-20. 10 The Central Bayamon University differs significantly from the secondary schools at issue in Catholic Bishop. There is no doubt that the University is a religiously affiliated school and that religion is a facet of the school's existence. The University was founded by the Dominican Order in 1961 and was incorporated as a non-profit association in 1964 by three Dominican priests. The University is governed by a Board of Trustees, the majority of whom must be and are members of the Dominican Order. The President of the University, who has broad powers and authority, similarly must be a member of the Dominican Order. The University defines itself in its bylaws and school bulletin as a Catholic-oriented institution, requires its students to take one course in theology and three in philosophy, and it offers regular masses in a church adjoining the campus. 11 Despite these religious aspects, however, the University's religious character is significantly less dominant than that of religious elementary and secondary schools. The University defines its objective as the provision of a humanistic education at an academic level and has an open admissions policy, recruiting applicants of all creeds. Hiring of faculty personnel is made on the basis of ability and experience; University bylaws require only that applicants possess the appropriate academic degrees, be of a sound moral character and show traits of pedagogical qualities. The University does not require any religious observance on the part of its lay faculty and guarantees them full academic freedom. Since 1970, apart from receiving government funds, see n. 7, infra, the University has been financially self sufficient. 12 Although the University offers masses at a church adjoining the campus, attendance by students is optional. The one required theology course, Analysis of Biblical History and Literature, is taught by both lay and religious faculty and focuses on an historical and literary analysis of Biblical texts. The teachers are not required to follow a specified religious analysis. The three required philosophy courses--ethics, logic, and the philosophy of man--cover a wide variety of thinkers, including religious and atheist writers. 13 Painting, as we are required to do, a general picture of the institution, composed of many elements, Roemer v. Board of Public Works of Maryland, 426 U.S. 736, 758, 96 S.Ct. 2337, 2350, 49 L.Ed.2d 179 (1976), we find that the University meets the picture of an institution with admittedly religious functions but whose predominant higher education mission is to provide their students with a secular education. Tilton v. Richardson, 403 U.S. 672, 687, 91 S.Ct. 2091, 2100, 29 L.Ed.2d 790 (1971). The mandatory theology and philosophy courses only supplement a curriculum covering 'the spectrum of a liberal arts program'  and are taught in an atmosphere of intellectual freedom. Roemer, 426 U.S. at 755-57, 96 S.Ct. at 2349-50. The central purpose of the faculty is not the inculcation of religious values in the student body, Cuesnongle v. Ramos, 713 F.2d 881, 883 (1st Cir.1983) (finding Central University of Bayamon to be less pervasively religious than a parochial school), but is rather to provide a high quality academic education. Thus, as with other religiously affiliated universities analyzed by the Supreme Court, see Roemer, 426 U.S. at 755-59, 96 S.Ct. at 2349-51; Hunt v. McNair, 413 U.S. 734, 743-44, 93 S.Ct. 2868, 2874, 37 L.Ed.2d 923 (1973); Tilton, 403 U.S. at 685-89, 91 S.Ct. at 2099-2101, we find that religious indoctrination is not a substantial purpose or activity of the University. Tilton, 403 U.S. at 687, 91 S.Ct. at 2100. 4 14 The fact that the Dominican Order controls a majority of the University's Board of Trustees does not change our analysis. In Tilton, 403 U.S. at 686-87, 91 S.Ct. at 2099-2100, the four colleges were admittedly governed by Catholic religious organizations, and in Hunt, 413 U.S. at 743-44, 93 S.Ct. at 2874, the college was wholly controlled by the South Carolina Baptist Convention. See also, Roemer, 426 U.S. at 758-59, n. 21, 96 S.Ct. at 2350-51, n. 21 (even where religious organization wholly controls a college, the college may still be found not to be pervasively sectarian). Thus, although we have little difficulty in accepting that the statement by the Archbishop of San Juan that the University was not a Catholic university merely reflected a power struggle between the Dominican Order and the Catholic hierarchy over control of the University, we do not find the issue to be of overwhelming importance. Even accepting that the Dominican Order, a clearly religious organization, controls the University, we find that the general picture of the University remains one of a more secular, rather than sectarian, university. 5 15 We also note that it is precisely because the University is similar in character to the colleges in Tilton, Roemer, and Hunt that it is able to receive governmental aid. 6 Although the fact that the University is eligible for federal aid is not dispositive of the Catholic Bishop inquiry, see infra p. 911, it is relevant to the analysis of the institution's religious nature. Indeed, the Supreme Court in Catholic Bishop referred to the aid-to-school cases in its analysis of the risk of entanglement that could ensue between the religious parochial schools and the government. Catholic Bishop, 440 U.S. at 501-04, 99 S.Ct. at 1319-20. 16 Based on our review of the record, we affirm our earlier ruling that the University is distinctly different from a religious elementary or secondary school. Cuesnongle v. Ramos, 713 F.2d 881, 883 (1st Cir.1983). A religious mission does not pervade the entire University system, with teachers playing a key role in the transmission of a particular religious faith to the student body. Thus, the very premise on which Catholic Bishop was based--that a significant risk of entanglement existed because of the unique role played by teachers in secondary schools--is conspicuously absent here. We therefore decline to extend the holding of Catholic Bishop to the University simply on the basis of the University's religious character. Further, we do not find that the jurisdiction subsequently conferred would create an impermissible entanglement between government and religion because of the University's religious nature.