Campus

Biden’s DOJ Threatens To Abandon Legal Protections For Religious Colleges
The Federalist by Ryan Bangert | Jun 14, 2021

The Biden Department of Justice briefly instigated outrage from progressives recently when it filed a routine legal brief promising to defend Title IX’s statutory exemption for religious colleges. The DOJ filed the brief to fend off efforts by religious colleges, some of whom are represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, to intervene in a lawsuit brought by 40 past and present LGBT college students who claim the exemption violates the U.S. Constitution. The exemption safeguards the ability of religious colleges that receive federal funds to maintain faith-based polices governing such things as student sexual conduct and sex-specific student housing.

“The fact that we now are accusing people who are just saying things that are common sense about how to treat everybody equally and fairly have been accused of being racist,” Pompeo said, according to The Hill, which aired the remarks ahead of the show’s airing. “Those are dangerous things in a democracy,” he said, adding: “They pose a staggering risk.”

Biden administration backtracks amid religious exemptions backlash
Washington Examiner by Nicole Russell | Jun 12, 2021

A motion from the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities argued that the Biden administration “may be openly hostile” to religious interests and thus unsuitable to litigate the case. The DOJ responded with a filing pledging to “vigorously” defend the religious exemption that exists in Title IX for religious schools. Let us hope the DOJ sticks to its word.

Federal Court Issues Commonsense Win for Campus Religious Group at Wayne State
Daily Signal by Sarah Parshall Perry | Apr 15, 2021

Just a few days ago, in a lengthy opinion, Judge Robert Cleland of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan granted partial summary judgment for the Christian group InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, finding that Wayne State University discriminated against it when it kicked it off campus for requiring its leaders to be…Christians. In so doing, the court joined the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit and the Supreme Court in protecting constitutional freedoms within an academic context.

Clarence Thomas Delivers Decisive Ruling in Religious-Free-Speech Case
National Review | Mar 8, 2021

Student Chike Uzuegbunam, an Evangelical Christian, was told that if he wanted to evangelize his faith to his fellow students, he would have to apply three days in advance for a permit, and then confine his activities to one of the two free-speech zones. After receiving the permit, he was told by campus cops that he could not share his faith even in one of the speech zones, because doing so violated a campus ban on “disturb[ing] the peace and/or comfort of person(s).” (Of course, these days, almost any opinion, especially on matters of faith, will make someone on campus uncomfortable.) So he sued, represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom and supported by Jeff Sessions and the Trump Justice Department.

Seeking justice, regardless of the price
Journal Courier by Adele Kaim | Feb 1, 2021

Chike Uzuegbunam, a college student at the Supreme Court, should also win his. Campus police at Georgia Gwinnett College threatened him with arrest if he didn’t stop talking to his classmates about Jesus in public, even when he was standing in the school’s tiny “free speech zone” (just 0.0015% of campus). After the school shut down his efforts to resolve the situation, Uzuegbunam sued. At first, school officials vigorously defended themselves in court, but when they learned Uzuegbunam had graduated, they abruptly changed their ludicrous policy and told the court to throw out the case – a move that would not only leave Uzuegbunam without compensation, but would also let the college go back to its old, bad policy.