David — I agree with you. But if I may digress a bit: Regarding Davidson, at least part of the problem is that private colleges are allowed to have police forces, period.

I’m a big fan of the private sector, but policing is one thing it just cannot do. Whenever someone has the right to enforce laws by arresting people, they should be subject to (A) the transparency requirements we place on public institutions and (B) close oversight by democratically elected officials.

When I was in college, some liberals got a kick out of throwing away entire stacks of the conservative newspaper I worked on. When we talked to the police about it, we were told we couldn’t have a copy of the resulting report. They didn’t have to provide it because the department is “private” — until it comes time to fine or arrest someone, at which point it gets to share in the public sector’s monopoly on the use of force. This is apparently still going on at private schools, and it’s absolutely inexcusable.

(I eventually caught a guy in the act.)

So, it was ridiculous to deny Davidson the right to have a police force on the grounds that it’s too religious. But at the same time, the fewer private police departments we have, the better.