For many students in college, clubs are a great avenue to meet and engage with people of similar interests. For those students who are religious, gathering with other people of faith on campus can be a fundamental aspect of their college life. InterVarsity Christian Fellowship USA, more commonly known as InterVarsity, is an organization that has clubs across various college campuses, aiming to provide students with a community of faith, in their case, inter-denominational Christianity. One such campus is Wayne State University, where InterVarsity established a chapter in the 1940s, and which is a predominantly commuter campus, meaning clubs are even of greater importance to encourage students to feel connected.
In 2017, Cristina Garza, the president of the InterVarsity chapter at Wayne State University at the time, applied to renew InterVarsity’s student organization status and was denied on charge that their chapter’s constitution was unacceptable. The Dean of Students’ office argued that InterVarsity’s expectation that its leaders are of Christian faith was discriminatory, so did not meet Wayne State’s club requirements. InterVarsity’s student memberships are open to all, and it is worth noting that Wayne State recognizes more than 400 student groups, and allows 90+ clubs to select leaders who agree with their views. For example, the Students for Life club is allowed to require its members to be pro-life, all fraternities and sororities can limit membership by sex, and the Secular Student Alliance is allowed to require leaders to be secularists. Thus, InterVarsity claims they were discriminated against for their religious beliefs by Wayne State University.
On March 6th, 2018, the group sued Wayne State University in violation of the First Amendment, as well as Wayne State’s own policy against religious discrimination. Wayne State University relented and reinstated the InterVarsity chapter on campus; however, recently the university conferred with a federal court to seek the power to kick the group off campus in the future. In October 2020, the groups in the case filed motions for summary judgment, and oral arguments will be heard in March 2021.
The issue at hand is with regards to the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. Does Wayne State University have the right to interfere with InterVarsity’s appointments of leaders, or is the religious club protected by the 1st Amendment to freely elect their own leaders, without interference by the university?
I do not think that Wayne State has the right to interfere with InterVarsity’s appointments of leaders, as this selection is an important practice of any religious organization, even on a college campus. The Free Exercise Clause protects InterVarsity in this sense, especially as InterVarsity specifically lists on their website the qualities that all executive members should possess in accordance with 1 Timothy 3:1-13. Their religious beliefs are guiding their appointments, and as such this is an aspect of the Free Exercise of religion. Furthermore, while there are 90+ other clubs that Wayne State University allows to select their leaders meeting criteria, Wayne State University has still set this precedent and expectation of individual club rights in this selection. While political and social clubs are protected by the university in requiring certain viewpoints of their members and leaders, how are religious groups not?
Another complication to the case is that while Wayne State University did not recognize InterVarsity as a student organization, and all of the benefits with such, under the ruling of Widmar v Vincent, universities who create public forums for student groups can not exclude those groups that meet and speak for religious purposes. As such, InterVarsity has been able to rent rooms in the student center, but at a cost to date of $2,720. Recognized student clubs are able to reserve free meeting rooms, host free tables for interested students, apply for funding available to organizations, and appear on the school’s website for students interested in getting involved on campus. While InterVarsity is still able to physically gather (at a cost), this is not the equivalence of being a recognized club on campus.
A previous case along somewhat similar lines was decided and set a precedent, in the case of Christian Legal Society Chapter v Martinez, in which Justice Ginsburg said for the majority vote that First Amendment rights must be examined in light of school environment (thus, defer to university decisions). Wayne State University has set the standard that student clubs on campus are able to select their own leaders without interference, given that another 90+ clubs are given this right. Therefore, they should follow their own expectations and provide a religious group with the same protections.
I believe the school has the right to interfere with the appointment of leaders within the organization. The school set the precedent by not recognizing them as a club as requiring payment for meeting spaces. It also denied them being a club to uphold its neutrality. The argument is based upon the first amendment, which to prevent an establishment of religion in this aspect. If frats and sororities had only christian leaders then they could also be denied the being a club on campus. If the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship is deemed a club then it will have to follow those guidelines when it comes to being club.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the author in this case. The protection of the free exercise of religion of student groups should be protected in this case, and the author's point that 90 other student groups can set other stipulations for their leaders, it follows that groups like InterVarsity should be able to set requirements for theirs. It could prove especially important for InterVarsity, as it's a non-denominational group that accepts people of all faiths in its events. The fact that InterVarsity independently selects its leaders, and other religious student groups can also stipulate restrictions on their leaders, it certainly fails to constitute a religious establishment.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that the university has the right to interfere with the InterVarsity's appointments of leaders. That organization, as well as the students who chose to join it, should be protected by the First Amendment. There is a multitude of other student groups that are able to choose leaders that align with their views. The university claimed that it would be discriminatory to only appoint those of the Christian faith, but that is the very core of the organization. It would not make sense for somebody who knew nothing about chess to run a chess club. By interfering, the university is taking away this group's right to practice their religious beliefs freely.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the university does not have a right to control how the members of InterVarsity choose their leaders. InterVarsity is a Christian Fellowship club, so it makes complete sense that the leaders of the club would have to reflect the values of this Christian organization. If other clubs are allowed to pick leaders based on how closely their values align with those of the club, then InterVarsity should be able to do the same. Their right to practice their religion through this organization is being violated by the university.
ReplyDeleteI think that given InterVarsity is an organization targeted at Christian athletes it is not unreasonable that they want their leaders to be Christian, frankly if you weren't Christian it wouldn't make much sense to join the club in the first place. I don't think that any university would be upset if the Hillel organization on campus required its leaders to be Jewish as it is an organization specifically for Jewish students. As long as religious clubs are all allowed to form regardless of denomination than the stipulation that members of those clubs follow those faiths is not discriminatory. The stipulation of religious faith isn't exclusionary in this example because it isn't a dance or music club it is a religious club.
ReplyDeleteInterVaristy on the Wayne State campus should be allowed to determine the qualifications for club leadership based on religious grounds and should not have their status as a club jeopardized due to that qualification. This level of 'discrimination' is not akin to racial or gender discrimination on campus but is simply a common sense prerequisite. One would not expect a Republican to be in charge of the Campus Democrats or vice vera. By limiting the way InterVarsity runs its religious organization does interfere with their freedom of religious exercise. Moreover, InterVarsity does not ban non-christians from its meetings, it simply wants to ensure its leadership shares the fundamental goals of the organization. If InterVarsity did however ban non-christians from its meetings, there would potentially be cause for concern by Wayne State.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Julia that the University does not have the right to interfere with this club. The club has the right to freedom of religion and by interfering with the club, the school is preventing the students and club from practicing their religion.
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