Union Institute on this date, 11/21/1852 was chartered as a Christian training school by Methodist Church in Randolph County, North Carolina. The school was renamed Trinity College in 1859. It was not doubt a good move to drop “union” in light of the pending strife closely related to that word. It was a wonderful move to honor the wonderful Trinity with this new name. In 1892 the college campus was moved to Durham, North Carolina.
But listen to this. A tobacco magnate named James B. Duke decided to give Trinity College a gift in 1924. It was a huge gift, reported to be a $40 million endowment. For money (it seems – God knows the hearts of the men) the great name Trinity was dropped. Want to know what took its place? Try Duke. Oh, the power of money – even on a Christian college. Trinity College became Duke University.
Info Source - William D Blake. Almanac of the Christian Church. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.
Separate-Holy 