By Kelly Heyboer and Jarrett Renshaw/ The Star-Ledger

NEWARK — The American Civil Liberties Union is calling on the Legislature to reject a list of 176 college building projects scheduled to receive state grants until the Christie administration explains how two religious training institutions were slated to get money.

ACLU is asking lawmakers to reject a list of 176 building projects
Montclair State University is preparing to accept bids for two new buildings funded by state bond grants. The ACLU is asking lawmakers to reject a list of 176 building projects until the Christie administration details why two religious institutions are on the list. Robert Sciarrino/The Star-Ledger
Princeton Theological Seminary and Beth Medrash Govoha are among 46 New Jersey colleges and universities scheduled to split $1.3 billion in voter-approved bond money to build and renovate campus facilities. The seminary trains Christian ministers and Beth Medrash Govoha is an all-male school in Lakewood that trains orthodox Jewish rabbis.

Some lawmakers have questioned whether $10.6 million in taxpayer money from a higher education construction bond should go to the rabbinical school to fund a new library and academic center when the institution is not open to people of all faiths. Legislators have separately questioned whether the $645,313 award for technology upgrades at Princeton Theological Seminary is legal because it is to come from a fund that is only supposed to be open to state-funded institutions.

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