CHARTER OF DREW THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
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From Laws of New Jersey
1868
CHAPTER II.
AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE DREW THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey, That Daniel Drew, Edmund S. Janes, George T. Cobb, Matthew Simpson, Enoch L. Fancher, James M. Tuttle, Theodore Runyon, Daniel Curry, Benjamin F. Manierre, Charles B. Sing, Cornelius Walsh, John S. Porter, Francis H. Root, John P. Durbin, James Bishop, R. L. Dashiell, Daniel L. Ross, Morris D’C. Crawford, Daniel D. Chamberlain, Archibald C. Foss, John H. Ockershausen, Leonard M. Vincent, William Wells, George F. Brown, William W. Drew, William H. Ferris, John A. Wright, John Lanahan, Charles C. North, Thompson Mitchell, and their successors in office as herein provided for, are hereby constituted a body corporate by the name of “Drew Theological Seminary of the Methodist Episcopal Church,” and by that name the corporation shall have perpetual succession, the right to sue and be sued, the right to contract and be contracted with, and to make and use a common seal, and to alter the same at pleasure, and may acquire, have, hold, possess, use and enjoy upon the trusts, and for the uses and purposes of said corporation, by purchase, gift, grant, devise or bequest, any real estate or personal property, and may let, lease, sell, grant, alien and convey any of said real estate or personal property, subject, however to the limitations herein contained, and shall possess, enjoy and exercise all the rights, powers and privileges of corporations conferred by law, or by the statutes of this State.
Section 2. And be it enacted, That the objects and purposes of the said corporation are the establishment, maintenance and support within the State of New Jersey of a theological faculty and seminary, and of theological instruction and education therein, under the direction and supervision of the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States, and in consonance with the doctrines and discipline of the said Church, with power to confer on graduates of said seminary proper degrees in theology, and to exercise the prerogative of a university in conferring honorary degrees in theology upon clergymen, with power also to organize faculties of arts, law, literature and medicine at such time as the said corporation may see fit, and to that end to appoint professors in said faculties, and through them to provide instruction in the arts, law, literature and medicine, and to confer degrees in the same, and to use and exercise all the powers and functions of a university; and said corporation is hereby authorized and empowered, whenever it shall desire so to do, to change its corporate name to that of the Drew University, said change to be effected by filing in the office of the Secretary of State, of this State, a certificate signed by the president of the board of trustees for the time being, by order of said board, of their intention so to change said name, and upon the filing of said certificate said corporation shall thenceforward be known by the said name of the
Drew University; provided that said change of name shall not in any wise affect the title to any of the property of the corporation; but said corporation shall have and enjoy all its franchises, property, rights and privileges, and have succession in all respects as if its name had not been changed.
Section 3. And be it enacted, That the government of the said corporation and the management of its property, business and affairs are hereby vested in a board of trustees, consisting of thirty-one persons, constituted as follows, vis.: fifteen ministers and fifteen laymen, and the president of the faculty herein provided for ex-officio, all of whom shall be in good standing as ministers or members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and nine of such trustees shall constitute a quorum of said board, competent to act at any regular or adjourned meeting thereof, and the said trustees, as such, shall constitute the said corporation.
Section 4. And be it enacted, That all the persons first herein named, to whom shall be added the said president of the faculty when appointed, shall be and act as the first board of trustees of said corporation until their successors are elected as herein provided; and at the first meeting of the said trustees they shall divide the members of said board, not including said president of the faculty, into three classes, numbered one, two and three, and proceed to determine by lot which of said trustees, other than said president of the faculty, shall fill said classes respectively, and each class shall contain five ministers and five laymen; and the terms of office of the trustees in class number one shall expire on the first day of July, Anno Domini eighteen hundred and sixty-eight; and of those in class number two, on the first day of July, eighteen hundred and seventy-two; and of those in class number three, on the first day of July, eighteen hundred and seventy-six; and at any regular session or meeting of the said
General Conference preceding the expiration of the terms of office of said trustees as aforesaid, the said General Conference may elect ten trustees, of whom five shall be ministers and five laymen, to succeed those trustees whose terms are about to expire, to hold offices as such trustees for twelve years and until their successors are elected, and the trustees thus elected shall succeed to all the rights, powers and privileges, and shall perform all the duties herein conferred, and imposed upon their immediate predecessors as trustees, and shall, at the expiration of their respective terms of office, surrender all their rights, powers, privileges and prerogatives as said corporation, as well as trustees, to their successors; and any vacancy occurring from any cause in said office of trustee shall be filled by the remaining trustees to hold until next session of the General Conference; failure to elect trustees shall not work a forfeiture of this charter or the dissolution of the corporation hereby created, or of the privileges thereby granted.
Section 5. And be it enacted, That the said trustees at the first meeting of the said board, and annually thereafter, shall organize said board by the election from their number of a president, secretary and treasurer, and shall have power to adopt and enforce a constitution and such by-laws, rules and regulations, not inconsistent with the constitution or laws of the State or of the United Sates, as may be deemed advisable for the government of the business and affairs of said corporation and for the regulation of the action of the said board, its offices and agents, in the discharge of its and their duties in fully executing and carrying into effect the objects, intents and purposes of this act; but the acts of the said trustees, as such, shall be subject at all times, and subordinate to the directions and instructions of said General Conference relative thereto, and no contract requiring an expenditure greater than ten thousand dollars, and no sale, conveyance, or transfer of any property of greater value than the sum of five thousand dollars shall be made, except by permission first obtained from said General Conference or from the chancellor of this State; nor shall any debts be contracted without the like permission whenever the debts of the corporation shall amount in the aggregate to more than five thousand dollars; and the property of said corporation, real and personal, shall be exempt from assessment and from taxation.
Section 6. And be it enacted, That the first faculty in theology shall be appointed by the trustees, but all vacancies thereafter occurring by the resignation, death or removal of professors in said faculty of theology shall be filled as follows, namely: the board of bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church shall nominate three persons for each such vacancy from whom the trustees of the corporation herein created, may choose one to fill said vacancy, or if they see fit so to do, they may reject all of said persons so nominated and return the names accordingly to said board of bishops, who shall again nominate in like manner until a choice shall have been made by the trustees from such nominees; and should additional chairs in said faculty of theology be created at any time, the first professors in such chairs shall be chosen by the trustees; and vacancies thereafter occurring shall be filled as above provided; the board of trustees may at any time found professorships and scholarships, and they may also appoint adjunct professors, lecturers, tutors, and other necessary officers.
Section 7. And be it enacted, That Daniel Drew, of the city of New York, herein named, by deed of trust, or by title in fee simple, and for a nominal consideration in the sum of one dollar, or by both, may transfer and convey unto the said corporation hereby created, any property, real or personal, and limit and designate the particular uses and purposes to which the same may, in accordance with law, be applied, and may also, by his last will and testament, or otherwise, give, grant, devise and bequeath unto the said corporation any portion of his estate, real or personal any existing act or statute to the contrary notwithstanding; and the land and property recently purchased by said Daniel Drew for the purpose of the corporation hereby created, shall from the time when it was purchased to the time when it shall be conveyed by him to the said corporation be, and be held to have been exempt from tax or assessment.
Section 8. And be it enacted, That this act shall take effect immediately. Approved February 12, 1868.
Courtesy of the Drew University Archives