The Chronicle of Higher Education recently reported on a conference of scholars and senior administrators at Harvard discussing "The Future of Religious Colleges" (McMurtrie, 2000). The irony of the meeting's venue is readily apparent. Having been founded by Puritan Christians in 1636 and soon given the motto, Christo et Ecclesiae, the beginning of the 19th century found the Calvinists ousted from control of Harvard and replaced by Unitarians. By the end of the 19th century President Charles Eliot transformed Harvard from a religious college into a prestigious secular university. This shift in ideological allegiances at schools such as Harvard University suggests to some that today's religious colleges or universities are on the horns of a dilemma--maintain a distinctive religious identity or move toward a strong academic reputation. The purpose of this study is to empirically assess the dilemma that national universities cannot attain a reputation for academic excellence if they maintain their religious identity. The data suggest that the dilemma is indeed more apparent than real, and that secularization, while historically common, is not currently necessary in the pursuit of a strong academic reputation.