Religion and Spirituality in Public Higher Education

The place of religion and spirituality in public higher education in the United States continues to grow due to the evolving interpretation of religion and the Constitution. What began as a singular entity comingling public and private resources and religion is now a public institution with more carefully delineated legal parameters governing the use of public funds for religious purposes. Three themes may be traced throughout the history of religion in US public institutions. First is the accommodation of increasing religious diversity and the concomitant dilution of the exclusive dominance of Protestant Christianity and its associated privilege within the public square generally and public higher education particularly. Second is the conscious attention to religion and, more recently, spirituality, and their respective places in the academic and co-curricular life of public higher education. Third is the continuing evolution of US law relating to the use of public resources by religious groups.