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Most of the famous older colleges and prep schools in the United States originated as Protestant institutions. They were modelled on British universities like Oxford and Cambridge, which were institutions of the Church of England. Six of the eight schools of the Ivy League—[[Harvard University|Harvard]], [[Yale University|Yale]], [[Princeton University|Princeton]], [[Columbia University|Columbia]], and [[Dartmouth College|Dartmouth]] were unquestionably Protestant in nature. Through the middle of the 1800s, compulsory chapel was a given at most of these schools, as it was at the service academies ([[United States Military Academy at West Point|West Point]], [[United States Naval Academy|Annapolis]], and at the [[Air Force Academy]] when it was founded in 1955).

Most of the famous older colleges and prep schools in the United States originated as Protestant institutions. They were modelled on British universities like Oxford and Cambridge, which were institutions of the Church of England. Six of the eight schools of the Ivy League—[[Harvard University|Harvard]], [[Yale University|Yale]], [[Princeton University|Princeton]], [[Columbia University|Columbia]], and [[Dartmouth College|Dartmouth]] were unquestionably Protestant in nature. Through the middle of the 1800s, compulsory chapel was a given at most of these schools, as it was at the service academies ([[United States Military Academy at West Point|West Point]], [[United States Naval Academy|Annapolis]], and at the [[Air Force Academy]] when it was founded in 1955).

The American Civil War and the transcontinental railroad brought cultural change to the United States, and the [[Morrill Act]] sparked a wave of establishment of non-sectarian public universities. From about 1860 through the 1950s, compulsory chapel at the private Ivy League schools began to be challenged. One after another, they abolished it. Harvard was first. Under the presidency of Unitarian Charles W. Eliot&mdash;with the support the famous Episcopalian minister [[Phillips Brooks]]&mdash;Harvard abolished compulsory chapel in 1889.<ref>[http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=511919 Harvard's Secularization], from The Harvard Crimson</ref><ref>[http://www.harvardmag.com/mj96/vita.html Vita: Phillips Brooks], The Harvard Magazine</ref> In the Ivy League, Princeton held on the longest, abolishing it in 1962.<ref>[http://etcweb.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/mfs/05/Companion/university_chapel.html?15 The University Chapel], Princeton website</ref>

The American Civil War and the transcontinental railroad brought cultural change to the United States, and the [[Morrill Act]] sparked a wave of establishment of non-sectarian public universities. From about 1860 through the 1950s, compulsory chapel at the private Ivy League schools began to be challenged. One after another, they abolished it. "Godless Harvard"<ref>An epithet first levelled by [[George Whitefield]] c. 1740</ref> was first. Under the presidency of Unitarian Charles W. Eliot&mdash;with the support the famous Episcopalian minister [[Phillips Brooks]]&mdash;Harvard abolished compulsory chapel in 1889.<ref>[http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=511919 Harvard's Secularization], from The Harvard Crimson</ref><ref>[http://www.harvardmag.com/mj96/vita.html Vita: Phillips Brooks], The Harvard Magazine</ref> In the Ivy League, Princeton held on the longest, abolishing it in 1962.<ref>[http://etcweb.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/mfs/05/Companion/university_chapel.html?15 The University Chapel], Princeton website</ref>

Compulsory chapel continued at the service academies through the early 1970s, when it was abolished as a result of court decisions: [[]] in 1972<ref>[http://www.usma.edu/bicentennial/history/1970.asp USMA Bicentennial History], USMA website</ref>, [[United States Naval Academy|Annapolis]] in 1972<ref>[http://www.usna.edu/VirtualTour/150years/1970.htm A Brief History of the United States Naval Academy], USNA website</ref>, the [[Air Force Academy]] in 1973<!--Ref?--->

Compulsory chapel continued at the service academies through the early 1970s, when it was abolished as a result of court decisions: [[]] in 1972<ref>[http://www.usma.edu/bicentennial/history/1970.asp USMA Bicentennial History], USMA website</ref>, [[United States Naval Academy|Annapolis]] in 1972<ref>[http://www.usna.edu/VirtualTour/150years/1970.htm A Brief History of the United States Naval Academy], USNA website</ref>, the [[Air Force Academy]] in 1973<!--Ref?--->