Second college theology student suing state

WILLIAMSBURG, Ky. — A student at Baptist-related Cumberland College is suing the commonwealth of Kentucky, claiming he was denied a scholarship in violation of his rights to free expression of religion. The suit makes him the second in recent years to sue a similar state program.

Woods Nash, a Cumberland junior, accepted a state-supported Kentucky Education Excellence Scholarship to pay for part of his first two years of college.

However, when Nash declared this year that he would major in philosophy and religion, the commonwealth informed him that his scholarship would not be renewed. State officials said students who enroll in programs leading to degrees in theology or divinity were ineligible for the award. Cumberland is related to the Kentucky Baptist Convention.

The American Center for Law and Justice sued on Nash’s behalf, citing a recent decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals invalidating a similar action by the state of Washington. In that case, a student received a state scholarship to attend Northwest College, a Christian school in Kirkland, Wash. However, the state withdrew the scholarship when it discovered he was pursuing a pre-ministerial degree.