Religious student groups that do not grant membership to non-Christians are challenging the University of Wisconsin's decision to ban them from recruiting and meeting on campus. University officials cite a policy that prohibits recognized groups from discriminating on the basis of religion or sexual orientation.
The Knights of Columbus require members to be Catholics, and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship allows only Christians to hold leadership positions. Both groups say the requirements are essential to their identity and mission and call the university's policy unconstitutional.
David Hacker, an attorney for the faith-based student groups, says religious discrimination is rampant in the University of Wisconsin system. "The University at both the Superior and Madison campuses has banned three Christian groups already from meeting on campus," he notes.
And there are other evidences of anti-Christian and liberal bias in this particular university system, Hacker observes. For instance, he notes, last year UW-Eau Claire was sued over its ban on resident assistants leading Bible studies in their dormitory rooms.
Meanwhile, the attorney points out, this same UW system has come under fire from conservatives for employing a radical liberal professor who teaches that the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001 were an inside job perpetrated by U.S. government officials, even as the school allegedly suppresses conservative speech on its campuses. And in addition to such alleged violations of conservative students' rights, critics contend that UW regularly violates Christian groups' constitutionally protected freedoms of speech, religion, and association.
"These Christian student groups, all they're asking for are the same rights as all other student groups on campus," Hacker insists. He says these student organizations only want "to be able select their members and leaders according to their own criteria and according to their religious beliefs," just as secular groups are allowed to do.
Academic freedom and individual rights advocates point out that recent court precedents have favored upholding faith-based student groups' rights. A federal appeals court last month forced Southern Illinois University to recognize the Christian Legal Society despite its requirement that members pledge to adhere to Christian beliefs.
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