[The Hustler, student-written article on the bishop’s success in the lower courts]
The Hustler, Vol. XXIV, No. 31
February 21, 1913
The Methodist-Vanderbilt University conflict affected not only the Vanderbilt faculty but it’s students. This issue of The Hustler, a student-led paper known today as The Vanderbilt Hustler, details the entire history of the rift. While there was some support for the Methodists within the Biblical Department, the students were overwhelmingly for a university independent of the church. This article shares that the bishops gained ground over the university in the Chancery Court of Davidson County. About a year later, Vanderbilt would go on to gain victory over the bishops in the Tennessee State Supreme Court. After the 1914 decision by the state supreme court to allow the university full autonomy, Chancellor Kirkland led over 1,000 students on a victory march through the streets of Nashville.
Vanderbilt University Archives