Universities May Deny Funding To Student Clubs That Discriminate

Press Release forward this message Universities May Deny Funding To Student Clubs That Discriminate, Groups Tell High Court Americans United Joins Friend-Of-The-Court Brief In Church-State Case At Supreme Court March 16, 2010 Public colleges and universities should have the constitutional right to deny funding and official recognition to student clubs that engage in religious discrimination, a trio of religious and civil liberties groups has told the Supreme Court. The organizations Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the American Jewish Committee and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism filed a  friend-of-the-court brief March 15 urging the justices to rule in favor of the University of California’s Hastings College of the Law in a pending case. Christian Legal Society v. Martinez concerns a student chapter of the Christian Legal Society (CLS) at Hastings that sued the school after it was denied official university recognition. Hastings officials said the CLS chapter violated school policies by denying membership and officer positions to non-Christians, gays and others who run afoul of CLS’s faith statement. “Public colleges have every right to deny funding and official recognition to student groups that discriminate,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “If students want to form a club that excludes others, they shouldn’t demand school subsidies or official status.” Read the full press release at www.au.org Read the friend-of-the-court brief (PDF), For more information, visit the AU Media Center. Call (202) 466-3234—or email americansunited@au.org. © 2010 Americans United for Separation of Church and State Support efforts like this. Make a donation.

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