CONTACT:     STEVEN H. ADEN, 703-642-1070, x 3504
TIMOTHY J. TRACEY, 703-642-1070, x3501

WASHBURN UNIVERSITY CHANGES STUDENT ORGANIZATION POLICIES TO RECOGNIZE RELIGIOUS GROUPS’ RIGHT TO BE RELIGIOUS

Grants Exemption From “Nondiscrimination” Policy

TOPEKA, KS – Washburn University’s Board of Regents voted on Friday, January 14 to amend its Student Organization Policy to no longer require the Christian Legal Society (CLS) chapter and other recognized religious groups to abide by the university’s standard “Nondiscrimination” Policy.  The policy would have forced the CLS chapter and other campus religious groups to accept members and officers who oppose their Christian beliefs.

CLS' Center for Law & Religious Freedom and local attorney Craig Shultz filed a lawsuit against the university in September 2004 after the Washburn Student Bar Association (WSBA) revoked the CLS chapter’s funding.  The WSBA de-funded the CLS chapter in response to the charge of religious discrimination a Washburn law student filed against the chapter.

The law student, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, had led a CLS Bible study earlier in the fall 2004 semester and taught doctrine inconsistent with CLS’s statement of faith.  As a result, chapter leaders informed him that he would no longer be asked to lead CLS-sponsored Bible studies.  Although the student admitted he could not agree with the statement of faith, he nonetheless demanded that the WSBA revoke the CLS chapter’s funding on the ground the chapter violated the university’s nondiscrimination policy. 

Following the lead of other major universities, such as Ohio State, the Washburn Board of Regents voted on January 14 to revise the policy to allow religious student groups to adopt nondiscrimination language in their organizational constitutions that is consistent with their members’ sincerely held religious beliefs.  The policy now reads, “Organizations must comply with the University's EEO policy and applicable federal, state and local laws in all their activities… [except that] organizations formed to foster or affirm the sincerely held religious beliefs of their members may adopt a nondiscrimination statement that is consistent with those beliefs.”  However, such religious organizations “must comply with the University's EEO policy in all other respects."

“Christian Legal Society and other campus faith movements are thankful that Washburn’s leadership has recognized their right to retain their distinctively religious character in leader and member selection and in sharing their message to the broader university community,” said CLS Center Chief Litigation Counsel Steven H. Aden.  “Washburn’s thoughtful approach to this controversy, and its respectful and expeditious decision to affirm the First Amendment rights of its religious students, should be applauded and held up as an example to other universities who are likewise seeking to balance equality for all students with true religious diversity.”

The Christian Legal Society, founded in 1961, is the national membership organization of Christian attorneys, judges, law professors and law students, as well as supportive laypeople in all fifty states. They are organized in more than 1100 cities into attorney chapters, law student chapters, and fellowships throughout the United States.