Most students who chose to attend a public university, such as Penn State, did not plan to attend a public university affiliated with a religious institution.

Those who wish to explore their individual faiths have the option to take religious studies classes or become involved in one of the 60 religious organizations housed in the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center.

However, some local pastors don't think that is enough.

Rev. Paul Grabill, pastor at the State College Assembly of God, along with a planning board, want to build a Christian branch campus in State College that would be affiliated with Penn State. Grabill said students at University Park do not have "an opportunity to have their faith issues dealt with in a way that draws on the voluminous evangelical Christian scholarship" and courses "seem either unaware or ignore this body of scholarship."

It's not necessarily a bad thing to have the resources available for students to explore their faiths, but Penn State already has these resources available on campus.

Take a walk inside the spiritual center and one can find countless religious services taking place and organizations planning programs for students to grow in their faiths.

If students wanted to seriously consider pursuing their spiritual exploration, they would have already enrolled in a Christian college that exists, such as Messiah College, La Salle University or Holy Family College.

Although Grabill said these are only preliminary plans for the proposed branch campus, his ideas are not feasible and more importantly, undermine the mission of a secular, public university.

Grabill said will seek financial support from local churches and Penn State alumni. But why would alumni care enough to donate to an institution not yet affiliated with Penn State, especially when their donations could be used to fund already existing scholarships?

Penn State has a network of religions that offers the campus a diverse education, which the proposed Christian college would not be able to match.