(ANALYSIS) Southern Methodist University has been making headlines recently. The university reached the College Football Playoffs for the first time, though it lost in the first round. Despite this, it remains in the top 25 for 2025 season forecasts and has recruited a new president from the rival University of Texas.

This all came as a Texas Supreme Court hearing on Jan. 15 marked the climax of a significant six-year legal battle. SMU, with its 11,800 students and $2.2 billion endowment, has declared its independence from the United Methodist Church, ending a 114-year connection while planning to retain its "Methodist" name.

The split occurred in 2019 when the UMC General Conference reaffirmed and strengthened the church’s stance against same-sex marriage and gay clergy. SMU’s board of trustees decided that the church’s position violated the university’s campus values and secular laws. Ironically, this moral stance had been in place since 1972 without leading to a split.

The situation became even more unusual when, despite the UMC’s reversal of its stance on sexuality, SMU continued with its decision to break away. In 2024, the UMC General Conference approved 34 actions that removed traditional restrictions on sexuality. This shift was possible due to the largest U.S. church schism since the Civil War, in which 7,631 local congregations — about a fourth of the total — left the UMC to uphold a more conservative biblical stance.

Until 2019, SMU’s Articles of Incorporation stated that the university was “forever owned, maintained and controlled” by the church through its regional South Central Jurisdictional Conference, which includes delegates from Texas and seven other states. The articles also gave the conference authority over future amendments to the articles and the power to approve board appointments, with a dozen trustees named directly by the region’s bishops.

In 2019, SMU unilaterally abolished these provisions, disregarding the need for conference approval. The university’s then-president explained that while SMU valued its historical relationship with the church, it was distinct from the UMC as “a separate corporate entity governed by the SMU Board of Trustees.”

Though the articles seemed airtight, SMU’s brief cites 70 court rulings and 25 state regulations under the legislature’s Business Organizations Code. The university argues that the code’s protection is necessary “to avoid the ‘paralyzing effect’ of vexatious litigation second-guessing” its management and policies. The trustees’ “fiduciary duty” to SMU’s “best interests” is said to require the rewritten articles to ensure compliance with state and federal laws on discrimination. Moreover, SMU points out that the church has taken a hands-off approach to its so-called “control” and has not donated any money for nearly a decade.

Both sides’ arguments overlook a key issue likely to arise in a potential federal appeal. A friend-of-the-court brief from the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty argues that the court’s “church autonomy” doctrine is at stake. Becket believes that rather than allowing SMU to "unilaterally eviscerate" the UMC’s rights guaranteed in its articles, state corporation and contract law "must give way to" the free exercise of religion under the U.S. Constitution.

Regardless of the court’s decision, one question remains: In what respects is SMU a “Methodist” or a “Christian” university beyond acknowledging its heritage, operating a Methodist-related seminary, providing chapel services and appointing chaplains?

As with many secular and public campuses, SMU has an interfaith religious studies department and various voluntary campus clubs sponsored by different religious groups. Among conservative and evangelical Protestants, about 150 liberal arts schools in the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities stand out by requiring faculty to be Christian believers. Most of these schools also have official creeds, sexuality and lifestyle rules, and mandatory worship attendance. The International Alliance for Christian Education, with 80 U.S. colleges and seminaries (some also CCCU members), is even stricter.

According to Baylor University specialist Perry Glanzer, there is a “confusing array of Christian colleges,” ranging from deeply religious to nearly secular. He co-authored “Christian Higher Education: An Empirical Guide” in 2023, which uses a point system to assess 366 Protestant and 179 Catholic colleges in the U.S. based on their stated mission, identity, marketing, hiring practices, curriculum and overall “campus experience.”

Schools with historic ties to relatively liberal mainline Protestant churches, like the 87 colleges formerly associated with the UMC (but not SMU), are particularly problematic. In a Jan. 17 article, Glanzer argued that these schools are “on life support” in terms of maintaining a Christian identity and faithfulness, despite their academic prestige and wealth. He believes “secularization is the most important threat” facing mainline Protestant higher education.

By Glanzer’s estimation, only 98 mainline colleges retain any “identifiable” Christian elements. Of these, just 26 mention Christianity in their mission statements, and only six require students to take at least two religion courses. Typical vestiges of Christianity at these schools include reserving a few board seats for clergy and offering voluntary Protestant worship. The only mainline schools scoring 10 or above on the “Empirical Guide” scale are Eastern University, Hope College, the University of Dubuque, the University of Sioux Falls and Waynesburg University.

There is also a parallel concern regarding “Taking the Catholic out of Catholic Universities,” as some Catholic institutions are increasingly distancing themselves from their religious roots.

Considering the historical significance of campuses with religious roots, it’s worth noting that several U.S. presidents and prominent figures attended such schools. These include Richard Nixon (Whittier College), Ronald Reagan (Eureka College), Bill Clinton (Georgetown University) and Barack Obama (Occidental College). Presidential nominees like Kamala Harris (Howard University, originally a seminary) and Mitt Romney (Brigham Young University) also came from institutions having a religious heritage. Other notable alumni include senators John Thune (Biola University) and Clarence Thomas (College of the Holy Cross), as well as governors Gavin Newsom (Santa Clara University) and Asa Hutchinson (Bob Jones University).

Finally, both religious and secular campuses face significant challenges. Last year, U.S. colleges disbanded at an average rate of one per week. A Jan. 8 article from the Hechinger Report warns of an impending “demographic cliff” — predicting a steep decline in the number of high school seniors available for college enrollment. College enrollments have already fallen by 15% between 2010 and 2021, a loss of 2.7 million students, with an additional 15% decline projected between now and 2033.

Richard N. Ostling was a longtime religion writer with The Associated Press and with Time magazine, where he produced 23 cover stories, as well as a Time senior correspondent providing field reportage for dozens of major articles. He has interviewed such personalities as Billy Graham, the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa and Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI); ranking rabbis and Muslim leaders; and authorities on other faiths; as well as numerous ordinary believers. He writes a bi-weekly column for Religion Unplugged.