Recent media cover stories in - Wired, Time, Harper’s – discuss religion and a campaign against it. If higher education’s executives and managers haven’t considered the business implications of this sensitive issue, they soon may have to. 

Jane Genova

In October, for example, curriculum trend-setter Harvard College proposed a mandatory course in religion, tentatively titled “Reason and Faith.” The rationale is that religion currently plays a major role in the world - and personal affairs. Obviously, this reflects a post-9/11 mindset. But it also hits a third rail in learning: What makes up an educated member of the global community in the 21st century? Has the secular tradition in academia for the past 30 years now become too narrow? 

If Harvard does it, other campuses will give consideration to following their lead. A decision either way may affect marketing and eventually rankings, such as those published by U.S. News & World Report. 

In fact, for several faith-based institutions, religion is already a niche marketing strategy. In her research, Naomi Schaefer Riley, author of God on the Quad, found that during the decade 1992-2002, there was a 67 percent increase in enrollment at evangelical colleges.

That demand is growing. In a 2003 survey, three-fourths of respondents indicated that religion and spirituality are important to them and provide a tool for coping. However, only 55 percent indicated satisfaction with how their school provided such opportunities. And 62 percent said professors do not encourage exploration of the issue (UCLA Higher Education Research Institute). Meanwhile, “the new atheism” is gathering momentum, and more students and their parents will likely seek out compatible institutions.

What about faculty recruitment? Some 400 colleges already list religion as a hiring factor. More than 100 Protestant campuses require employees to sign a contract that they will not promote views that conflict with the school’s religious orientation (Chronicle of Higher Education, May 23, 2002). Some observers believe that policy severely limits the pool of applicants, and in more than one way might not bode well for academic inquiry and freedom.

Catholic Notre Dame is one campus which claims difficulty attracting enough Catholic faculty members. Today 53 percent of Notre Dame faculty members are Catholic vs. 85 percent in the 1970s (The Wall Street Journal January 7, 2006). Would a strict Catholic requirement sacrifice a prestigious brand on the altar of religious affiliation?

But that’s only one side of the issue. Amid a glut of academic job-seekers, there’s the business question of how to screen out applicants desperate to be hired with no interest in the school’s religious mission. There are numerous tales of festering bad fits already.

There is of course the possibility of lawsuits.  A modern classic involves a professor at Protestant Wheaton College who changed his religion and was terminated. Although he didn’t sue, the college has taken a major hit to its brand.