By Dr. Robert Matz
Hannibal-LaGrange University is unapologetically Christian. We offer students a relevant education anchored in a biblical worldview. Since 1858, we have existed to serve the churches of the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC). Those churches select our trustees so that our university remains accountable to our Christian faith and Baptist mission. As a result, unlike many historically religious schools, HLGU has always remained faithful to its Christian foundation.
Today, this long-standing model is under direct threat. At the close of the Biden administration, federal regulators attacked both our institution’s autonomy and our churches’ religious liberty.
In the Spring of 2024, Biden’s Department of Education finalized 34 CFR §668.14 and applied this regulation to HLGU. Informally known as the Co-Signature Mandate, this new regulation forces denominational bodies like the MBC to choose between two untenable options: surrender their role in trustee selection, or assume financial and legal liabilities for the institutions’ decisions. If unchallenged, this policy would force religious organizations to function like lenders or stockholders, not cooperating churches.
But Baptist churches do not own universities like stockholders. Our churches, each autonomous, voluntarily cooperate to advance the Great Commission. These churches elect spiritually qualified trustees as partners to ensure our Christian faithfulness. Forcing a group of churches to become financially liable when they exercise spiritual stewardship misunderstands our theology and violates the First Amendment.
Already, our institution has felt tangible harm due to this mandate. HLGU recently launched a prison education program. Under existing programs, the Government provides grants so that incarcerated individuals can access transformative education. Those students should be eligible to pick any qualifying school to attend. Tragically, due to the Department of Education’s insistence on imposing this regulation, our ability to receive over $500,000 in funding for this beneficial program has been blocked. Unless reversed, the number of students who can benefit from this program will continue to be greatly limited.
More critically, this regulation threatens all students’ right to choose HLGU. Title IV funding, which greatly reduces the cost of higher education, lets any taxpayer use grants and loans to attend a qualified university of their choice. If fully implemented, the co-signature mandate would prohibit students from choosing HLGU while using Title IV funds, solely because of HLGU’s relationship with Missouri Baptists.
This religious liberty issue goes beyond Baptists. Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian and other faith-based universities rely on their ability to freely organize and appoint trustees according to their religious beliefs. The co-signature mandate affects whether students can use federal aid to attend a college aligned with their convictions. It sets a dangerous precedent—empowering federal agencies to interfere with the internal governance of religious institutions nationwide.
For these reasons, we have asked the Department of Education under Secretary Linda McMahon to remedy this constitutional overreach. Recent Executive Orders by President Trump, notably Executive Order No. 14,202, titled “Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias,” and Executive Order No. 14,219 promoting governmental efficiency and deregulation, underscore a clear directive to defend religious freedom and streamline federal regulations. These directives should encourage the Department to swiftly grant relief and reassess this problematic rule.
But we also understand the Department faces legal hurdles in changing regulations adopted by the prior administration, and, if necessary, HLGU will seek relief from the courts.
The broader implications of this case cannot be overstated. A precedent allowing federal bureaucracies to dictate the internal governance of religious institutions imperils religious freedom across America. Today, it’s a Baptist university; tomorrow, it could be a Catholic seminary, a Jewish day school, or any number of faith-based educational institutions facing similar encroachments.
This is a pivotal moment—not only for HLGU, but for the principle of religious self-governance in American higher education. Christian universities should not be forced to choose between their faith and their future. We will not stand by as federal policy erodes the very foundations on which our institutions are built.
As president of HLGU, I respectfully urge Secretary McMahon and the Department of Education to recognize the severity of this situation and act decisively to protect not only HLGU but religious institutions nationwide. Religious liberty is a foundational American value, and now is the moment to defend it vigorously, unequivocally, and publicly.
Dr. Robert Matz is the President of Hannibal-LaGrange University in Hannibal, Missouri.