State v. Board of Trust of Vanderbilt University

• Decision Date: 21 March 1914
• Citation: 164 S.W. 1151,129 Tenn. 279
• Parties: STATE ex rel. COLLEGE OF BISHOPS OF M. E. CHURCH, SOUTH, et al. v. BOARD OF TRUST OF VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY et al.
• Court: Tennessee Supreme Court

164 S.W. 1151

129 Tenn. 279

STATE ex rel. COLLEGE OF BISHOPS OF M. E. CHURCH, SOUTH, et al. v. BOARD OF TRUST OF VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY et al.

Supreme Court of Tennessee.

March 21, 1914

Appeal from Chancery Court, Davidson County; John Allison Chancellor.

Bill for injunction by the State of Tennessee, on the relation of the College of Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and others, against the Board of Trust of Vanderbilt University and others. Decree for complainants, and defendants appeal. Reversed, and bill dismissed.

Lansden J., dissenting in part.

John Bell Keeble, J. J. Vertrees, J. C. Bradford, and Chas. C. Trabue, all of Nashville, G. T. Hughes, of Columbia, and J. M. Anderson and Jordan Stokes, Sr., both of Nashville, for appellants.

A. B. Anderson and P. D. Maddin, both of Nashville, Fitzhugh & Biggs, of Memphis, E. C. O'Rear, of Frankfort, Ky., and Harris & Harris, for appellees.

TURNER Special Judge.

The bill in this case was filed by the state, on the relation of the College of Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and three gentlemen, who had been elected by the General Conference of the Church to fill vacancies in the Board of Trust of Vanderbilt University, against the University, as a corporation, and its Board of Trust, and three other gentlemen who had been elected by the Board of Trust to fill the aforesaid vacancies in that board, and seeks to enjoin the board from admitting its own appointees, and to compel it to seat those elected by the General Conference.

Two answers are filed, one by the majority of the trustees, their appointees, and the University, contesting the bill, and the other by a minority of the trustees, admitting the rights claimed by the complainants, and joining in the prayer of the bill.

On the hearing in the court below, the chancellor granted the relief prayed for by the bill, and the University and majority trustees and their appointees have appealed and assign errors in this court.

Two questions are involved, to wit: Whether the General Conference had the right to elect the members of the Board of Trust, and whether the College of Bishops had visitorial power over the University and the right to veto the action of its Board of Trust.

The pleadings and proofs are very voluminous. On the hearing below, exceptions were taken to much of the evidence as hearsay, irrelevant, and immaterial. The chancellor overruled the exceptions and admitted all the evidence. The objection is not preserved or made in this court, and hence the whole proof is before us for what it is worth. A large part of it is immaterial to the real issues in the cause.

The essential facts, appearing in the pleadings and proof, are as follows:

In the fall of 1871, eight or nine of the annual conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, appointed committees "to confer" with each other, "in reference to the establishment and endowment of a Methodist University of high grade and large endowment," but, as stated in one of the resolutions appointing such committee, "it being understood that said committee shall not have authority to pledge this conference to any action." Some of these annual conferences were incorporated and some not; but all were composed of the ministers and lay delegates from the churches within certain territory assigned to each, and each had jurisdiction over the churches within the district so assigned.

In January, 1872, the several committees appointed by these annual conferences met at Memphis, were presided over by some of the bishops, and, after conferring and discussing the subject for three days, adopted certain resolutions prepared by Bishop McTyeire, as follows, to wit:

"Resolved by the Convention: 1. That measures be adopted looking to the establishment, as speedily as practicable, of an institution of learning of the highest order, and upon the surest basis, where the youth of the church and country may prosecute theological, literary, scientific, and professional studies to an extent as great, and in a manner as thorough as their wants demand.

"2. That the institution shall be called the Central University of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

"3. That it shall consist, at present, of five schools or departments--viz.: A theological school, for the training of young preachers, who, on application for admission, shall present a recommendation from a quarterly or annual conference, and shall have obtained a standard of education equal to that required for admission on trial into an annual conference; and instruction to them shall be free, both in the theological and the literary and scientific departments. Secondly, a literary and scientific school. Thirdly, a normal school. Fourthly, a law school. Fifthly, a medical school.

"4. That the sum of one million dollars is necessary in order to realize fully the object desired, and not less than five hundred thousand dollars must be secured as a condition precedent to the opening of any department of the university.

"5. That the location of the university shall be left to the decision of the College of Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

"6. That the carrying out of this whole scheme is hereby committed to the following persons, viz.: William C. Johnson, Robert J. Morgan, Smith W. Moore, Milton Brown, Alexander L. P. Green, Jordan Stokes, David C. Kelley, Edward H. East, Robert A. Young, Landon C. Garland, Phillip Tuggle, John M. Steele, James H. McFerrin, Christopher D. Oliver, William Dickson, Edward Wadsworth, William Byrd, William L. C. Hunnicutt, Thomas Christian, James L. Borden, William H. Foster, Andrew Hunter, James L. De Yampert, and David T. Reynolds, who shall take immediate steps for securing a suitable charter of incorporation, and shall be a Board of Trust, with power to solicit and invest funds, appoint an agent or agents, and to do whatever else is necessary for the execution of this scheme.

"7. That seven of the Board of Trustees, at any meeting regularly called, shall constitute a quorum.

"8. That provision be made in the charter for giving a fair representation in the management of the university to any annual conference hereafter co-operating with us.

"9. That the bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, be, and are hereby, requested to act as a board of supervision of the university or any of its departments, and jointly with the Board of Trust to elect officers and professors, and prescribe the course of study and plan of government."

On the day after the Memphis convention adjourned, this Board of Trust, so designated and appointed, met and organized by electing a president, secretary, treasurer, and executive committee. The latter were "requested to prepare a code of by-laws, defining the duties of officers and standing committees, and such other by-laws as may be necessary for the government of the operations of the Board of Trust." They adjourned to May 8, 1872, at which time they met at Nashville, where the College of Bishops was then in session. They addressed to the bishops the following communication, to wit:

"Whereas, the convention left the location of the university to the decision of the College of Bishops of the M. E. Church, South, and also requested the bishops to act as a board of supervisors of the university, or any of its departments, and jointly with the Board of Trust to elect officers and professors, and prescribe the course of study and the plan of government:

"Resolved: (1) That the secretary be and is hereby directed to address the bishops with the view of obtaining their acceptance of the foregoing official relation to the university.

"(2) That the secretary invite the bishops to attend the present meeting of the Board of Trust."

On the next day the bishops made the following reply (having first voted down a motion to decline the request outright) to wit:

"Resolved: (1) That the College of Bishops accede to the request, made by the Board of Curators of the contemplated university, to locate the institution whenever the sum of $500,000 shall be pledged for the enterprise.

"(2) That, by this act, we are not to be understood as implying that the said institution is to be considered connectional, to the damage of existing colleges and universities. We can take no official relation to the Central University that will discriminate between it and any and every other institution of the church. Nevertheless, we feel free to give our decided approval to the combination of the several annual conferences represented in the convention in Memphis, or so many of them as shall agree together, acting through respective bodies in getting up an institution of the highest grade.

"(3) That, as the question of theological schools is in a controversy among our people, we propose no action that may be construed into an expression of our collective opinion on the subject, but it is made a condition of the first resolution that the theological department, to be comprised with the literary and professional departments of the proposed Central University, be such as is consistent with the action of the General Conference held in Memphis in 1870, in the words following:

"'Resolved, that we indorse the action of the last General Conference, in reference to Biblical chairs, in connection with our existing colleges, as the best available means for training young preachers."'

To this the board responded:

"Resolved, that the terms and conditions upon which the bishops of the church are willing, in due time and proper form, to accede to the request made of them by the late educational convention, held in Memphis, to locate this proposed university, are, in the judgment of the board, sufficient to

...