(RNS) — The American Humanist Association is suing the West Virginia Water Development Authority to stop it from awarding a $5 million grant to a tiny out-of-state Catholic college, arguing that the grant violates the state constitution’s freedom of religion provision.
Last year, the water authority approved a $5 million grant to the Steubenville, Ohio-based College of St. Joseph the Worker for the expansion of its campus into neighboring West Virginia.
According to the grant proposal, about $2.1 million would create a real estate, development and construction company headquartered in Weirton, West Virginia, where students could learn building trades. But about $1 million of the $5 million grant would support a think tank called The Center for the Common Good that advocates against abortion. And $1.6 million would go toward scholarships for the recruitment of West Virginia students.
The American Humanist Association, which has a chapter in West Virginia, says the grant violates the state constitution, which says the state cannot favor one religion over another. The association is represented in the lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the suit Monday (Jan. 13) in Kanawha County Circuit Court.
“That the government would use tax dollars, especially out of the water infrastructure fund, to fund a college that only grants degrees in Catholic studies and makes clear that its mission is to develop …