Since 1952, the Davidson College Presbyterian Church has served as the cornerstone of Davidson’s relationship with the Christian tradition. Originally founded by the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 1837, Davidson has boasted its religious diversity while still maintaining its ties to the church.

College Chaplain and Director of Religious & Spiritual Life Julia Watkins described Davidson’s relationship to the church. “We have ties to the Presbyterian Church (USA) that I often describe as groundwater ties. If you’re not looking for the values that arise out of the Presbyterian Church (USA), you might not recognize them as such on campus,” she explained. “Davidson was established by Presbyterians, and today, those values continue to form us in some meaningful ways.”

Until the Board of Trustees revised their bylaws in 2021, the College’s president and 80% of the Board of Trustees were required to be active members of the Christian Church and committed to the Presbyterian tradition. The revised bylaws now state that only 25% of the Board must be Presbyterian and the presidential position is open to individuals of any faith, as long as they remain committed to the Statement of Purpose. 

The Statement of Purpose affirms that “Since its founding, the ties that bind the college to its Presbyterian heritage, including the historic understanding of Christian faith called The Reformed Tradition, have remained close and strong. […] The Christian tradition to which Davidson remains committed recognizes God as the source of all truth, and believes that Jesus Christ is the revelation of that God, a God bound by no church or creed.” 

Chief Human Resources Officer Katie Germana and Director of Media Relations Jay Pfeiffer explained that all summer employment contracts include the Statement of Purpose and that the transition to Oracle, Davidson’s recruitment and hiring platform, in 2024 may have made the Statement of Purpose more obvious in the contract. Previously, the Statement of Purpose was embedded in the contract, but now employees must read and acknowledge the statement on its own.

Watkins acknowledged the existence of those who are Presbyterian on campus but confirmed that it is not the most popular practice at Davidson. “The Presbyterian student body at Davidson is around 8% of our students overall, as compared to 1% of college-aged students out across the country […] And the Presbyterian percentage has declined, as you can imagine, pretty significantly over the years. So Presbyterians actually aren’t even the single largest religious group on campus—Catholic students are,” she stated.

Still, some students have expressed concerns about Davidson’s commitment to the Christian tradition. Megan Mokriski ‘25 first encountered the Statement of Purpose when signing her contract as a summer research assistant. “There’s this one line about how Davidson is committed to a Christian tradition that recognizes God as the source of all truth,” she said. “I just thought that was kind of a weird thing to say on the page where I’m just signing up to get hired as a research technician, because in research, we look for truth based on the scientific method, not [through] God.” 

Watkins offered a different perspective. “The Presbyterian tradition is not one that’s suspicious of science as a way of knowing, but pursues truth wherever it may be found—on the theater stage, in the classroom, in the lab, out in nature. It has openness towards learning, however we may discover it.”

Amelia Roselli ‘25 discussed the Statement of Purpose with her classmates in her Thinking About Religion course with Chair & Associate Professor of Religious Studies Dr. Syed Rizwan Zamir. “[The Statement of Purpose is] a paragraph about connection to God and how Davidson respects all traditions, but recognizes the special connection to Christianity,” she said. “We talked about how most students have no idea that’s a thing, and how it’s interesting we still have that, given the relationship that most students have with the Presbyterian Church—which is none at all.”

Roselli and Mokriski agreed that the Statement of Purpose does not reflect how religious life truly appears on Davidson’s campus. “It’s a misrepresentation of the way religion works among the student body and in the classroom at Davidson,” Roselli stated. 

Mokriski reflected on how the Statement of Purpose would have impacted her college application process. “I think that if I had read the Statement of Purpose while looking at applying to Davidson, I would definitely have been scared off,” Mokriski stated. “I probably wouldn’t have come because I wasn’t looking for a religious college, and I wouldn’t want all of my classes to be referencing religion.” She added that she felt that Davidson was not fully transparent about its relationship with Christianity during her application process.

According to Campus Tour Guide and Summer Admissions Ambassador Davis Varnado ‘25, admissions representatives aim to use inclusive language to describe Davidson’s relationship with the church. He begins his discussion of religious life during his tours by introducing Davidson’s history with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and subsequent adoption of The Reformed Tradition. 

“I like to say that to go to Davidson, you don’t have to be Presbyterian, you don’t have to be Christian, you don’t have to be religious,” Varnado said. “Then I usually just talk about the different choices you have. So I talk about the five chaplains that we have in the Chaplains’ Office. I talk about the religious student groups and how all their practices are open to [all] students.”

Despite Mokriski’s initial concerns, she recognized that it has not impacted her experiences in the classroom in the ways she may have initially feared. “Of course, there are connections between religion and biology, but that’s just not what I wanted to focus on and I don’t think it actually has been like that,” she said. “I think the Statement of Purpose might give the wrong impression, because that’s never been a part of my science or biology classes at Davidson.”

Watkins emphasized that even though the Statement of Purpose plays a role at Davidson, the school prides itself on inclusivity. “I would say that we have a very diverse student body in terms of religious and spiritual identity now, and a relatively engaged student body in terms of religion and spirituality,” she stated. “I do think that’s one thing that may set Davidson apart from some of our other small liberal arts college peers: that we really do cultivate the life of the Spirit alongside the life of the mind here.”