Belmont University – the site of the second presidential debates — might not be known to many of our regular readers. I have some inside information and some questions based upon it which I would like to share.
First, the university used to be tied directly with the Tennessee Baptist Convention. Things began to change in 2005 when Belmont’s Board of Trustees sought to remove baptist control over the university. The university would still be a Christian university, and “60%” of the board members were to be baptist, so that its heritage would be remembered, but it wanted to become more “secular” as well. The baptists did not agree to this and filed suit. In 2007, a deal was made which allowed the university to remove itself from the TennesseeBaptist Convention, but it would immediately pay $1,000,000 to the Tennessee Baptist Convention and $250,000 annually for the next forty years while the university became a generic “Christian campus.”(1)
Second, Belmont does not reside in the safest part of town. Things might have changed since the time I stayed on the campus (see point three), but it really was considered one of the most dangerous places to be in Nashville (it had a high crime rate, including, and especially, violent crime). It was not safe place to be out at night without being in a group. The campus tried to keep to itself with security, but that was only limited in effectiveness. (2)
Third, Belmont has had a unique relationship with the Nashville community. On the one hand, it has been known to work with local Christian groups to bring aid to the poor, immigrants, and refugees, while on the other hand, it has also been known to work against those same people in ways which contradict such aid. This comes directly from my experience with Belmont University. I was there in the summer of 1994, the summer before my conversion to Catholicism (I was chrismated Pascha1995). I was there as a “missionary” from the Indiana University BaptistStudent Union (yep, I was a baptist), working with Belmont BaptistChurch and being housed at Belmont University. The main work I was asked to do was to help the Kurdish refugees brought into the United States from Catholic Relief Services, mostly by providing summer programs for the kids as the parents worked. Secondarily, I was to help with the food pantry with the church and help other poor members of the nearby community. When the Kurds were brought into the United States, they were given cheap housing next to campus, in a rather poorly run apartment complex — something they could afford, and a place they could live and work together as they established themselves in the United States, but also a place which could have been more humane (imagine seeing 2 bedroom apartments with families of 10+ living in them, and no air conditioning — that’s exactly what I saw, in a summer with record-breaking highs). By the end of my time there, I heard some bad news: the apartments were going to be taken over by the university and the refugees thrown out with no place for them to go to. Belmont wanted to expand and make new dormitories for its students, and the refugees were living exactly where Belmont could expand. (3)
Tonight, I am going to be more interested in seeing what the university now looks like, 14 years after I have been there, than I am going to be with the debate itself. Will we see any of its Christian heritage? Will we see any of the campus community at the debate (or will it be like what happens at many other universities, where the students are forbidden access to the campus). It’s for me, going to bring a bit of nostalgia. I never expected that from presidential debates.
Questions to ponder:
(1) Does having a debate on the campus violate the separation of church and state? Why or why not? Will any of the “profits” from the debate be going to religion? Is that acceptable to you? Why or why not?
(2) Does this indicate any possible danger to either or both of the candidates? There has been a considerable amount of violent, anti-Obama rhetoric within some circles; could someone try something tonight?
(3) Did that make my work with the Kurds futile? I do not know. I’ve not heard what happened to them. I hope the university ended up helping them relocate. Interestingly enough, while a majority of the Kurds were Muslim, another significant contingent were Orthodox. It made for interesting conversations throughout the summer.
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