Overwhelming support by many Michigan students and educators paved the way for Gov. Jennifer Granholm's approval Thursday of scholarship eligibility for theology students.
The governor approved a five-bill package after the state Senate unanimously voted in favor of it in May. Two-thirds of state representatives approved the measure. The law is now set to take immediate effect.
"We worked with the legislature on this proposal, and it was something the governor was hoping to be able to support and she in fact did sign into law," Granholm spokeswoman Liz Boyd said.
Former laws prohibited Michigan scholarships for religious studies, as part of separation between church and state. The package of new laws will affect the Michigan Merit Scholarship, Michigan Educational Opportunity Grant, Michigan Competitive Scholarship, Part-time Independent Grant programs and Michigan's Tuition Grant programs.
The laws still have provisions that limit students in these majors from going on to become ordained ministers.
Other proponents of the new law, such as Fred Graham, professor emeritus of Religious Studies at MSU, say in order to understand the implications of it, a fuller understanding of the meaning of separation of church and state is needed.
"We have to remember that in the Constitution, they weren't trying to do away with religion, they were trying not to favor any religion," Graham said.
Graham lost a scholarship in 1962 when he began working on his doctorate degree in religious studies at the University of Iowa. He said as long as the government is being fair to all sides, there should be no more discrimination against students studying theology.
"I can't see any reason why someone doing that kind of study couldn't get a scholarship the same way as someone studying history," he said.
The primary push to change the state law came after Ave Maria College student Teresa Becker lost a $2,750 state scholarship last year after declaring a major in theology. In response, she sued the state in federal district court, which ruled in her favor and put her scholarship in escrow until the case was settled.
Becker had been taking classes at Ypsilanti's Ave Maria for two years and had received about $4,000 in financial aid. As soon as she declared her theology major, her funding was revoked. Becker couldn't be reached for comment on Monday.
This was part of the problem with the former law, said Jeremy Hendges, legislative assistant for state Sen. Jason Allen, R-Traverse City. Allen was one of the sponsors of the new law.
"A lot of students will not declare a major in theology until two or three years into their schooling, for fear of losing scholarship aid," he said. "They shouldn't have to be afraid to declare a major."
The issue at stake was whether the separation of church and state was being violated by what is being proposed, said Henry Silverman, president of the Lansing branch of the American Civil Liberties Union.
"There's a difference between studying religion and those who are being trained to become leaders of a religion and a particular faith," he said. "The legislation supports people who want to study religion as a discipline, not people who want to become religious leaders.
"That's acceptable. There's nothing wrong with supporting kids who want to study religion."
Some MSU students, such as 2004 graduate Danielle Stein, say they approve of the proposed change because the former law was discriminatory. Stein graduated with a Jewish studies specialization, and was required to take theology classes.
"For the state to not give theology students scholarships (was) ridiculous," she said.
English and education junior Becky Brewer agreed.
"I think that's a great idea because students should study what they want," Brewer said. "It's not the government supporting religion, they're supporting the education of students."
