Cornelius Vanderbilt helped start Vanderbilt with a $1 million dollar gift in 1873 when that became the LARGEST single charitable gift in US History. This was inspired by his wife’s cousin, Methodist Bishop Holland N. McTyeire of Nashville, who would select the site and establish the University. For the first 40 years until 1914, Vanderbilt operated under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopalian Church that Bishop McTyeire was a member of.
All of these above are rotating rapidly in their graves.
Of course, Vanderbilt U., has become anti-values for multiple years now. Their previous offense was to ban a student Christian organization because its bylaws required the LEADERS to be practicing Christians. The University deemed this to be against their ‘inclusivity’ regulations.
Sorry, the church of Bishop Holland N. McTyeire should be specified as the Methodist Episcopal Church not the Methodist Episcopalian Church.
And in fairness similar stories can be told of many of the private universities from Harvard on. The tendency of educrats seems to be an invincible drift towards the left unless severely controlled. Federal funds do nothing but encourage this trend.
I would predict that if Presiden Eisenhower were to give his famed departing speech today, this past USMA graduate and past President of Columbia University would be warning us of the Educational-Political Complex, either with the Military-Industrial or instead of!