The University of North Carolina at Greensboro has determined that a Christian club called “Make Up Your Own Mind” isn’t religious, and in order for the club to be recognized by the university, it must allow students from other belief systems to become members and leaders. Alliance Defense Fund attorney Jeremy Tedesco filed a federal lawsuit on the club’s behalf on February 29.
The Make Up Your Own Mind club has been trying to be distinguished as a religious club for months. Members presented their request with evidence in their constitution that they indeed are a religious group, and they petitioned to be recognized under the university’s exemption policy, which states, “student groups that select their members on the basis of commitment to a set of beliefs (e.g., religious or political beliefs) may limit membership and participation in the group to students who, upon individual inquiry, affirm that they support the group’s goals and agree with its beliefs.”
“The key problem here is that it can be very difficult to distinguish between status and belief,” said Cameron Parker, a senior at UNC-Chapel Hill, “Especially in religious organizations, your religious beliefs are a core part of your identity and really give meaning to your ‘status’ as a member of a faith. So nondiscrimination policies that want to give deference to religious organizations but also want to protect specific statuses can be seriously tested.”
UNC-Greensboro denied the group’s application at first because officials claim that the club isn’t religious, despite the club having a religious mission and asking their members to agree their statement of “faith and beliefs about the value of innocent human life.” The Make Up Your Own Mind club has resubmitted its application to be recognized as a religious group. The university has not yet responded to the group’s new application.
“Saying that a Christian club isn’t religious is flatly absurd,” Jeremy Tedesco said, “especially when the university has granted its belief-based exception to numerous other clubs. The First Amendment forbids the government from determining what is and what is not ‘religious,’ yet the university is doing exactly this by telling a Christian group that it is not religious. The Constitution protects the right of all student groups to employ belief-based criteria in selecting their members and leaders.” He told Fox News, “We should get very nervous when the government decides it has the authority to determine what is and what isn’t religious. That’s a dangerous concept.”
The university has said that the club is “not affiliated with a church but rather a local non-profit organization,” although church affiliation is not required in order to be recognized as a religious organization. UNC-Greensboro has allowed other groups to be called religious without church affiliation.
UNC-Greensboro submitted a statement saying, “We are gathering information and assessing the allegations of the suit,” said the statement. “If we discover that the matter in question was handled improperly, we will swiftly take corrective actions.”
Vanderbilt University recently imposed a similar restriction on Christian student groups, which could force them to accept non-believers as members or even group leaders. Vanderbilt Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos said the university “does not seek to limit anyone’s freedom to practice his or her religion. We do, however, require all Vanderbilt registered student organizations to observe our nondiscrimination policy. That means membership in registered student organizations is open to everyone and that everyone, if desired, has the opportunity to seek leadership positions.”
Religious students have been alarmed by recent efforts to restrict religious liberty on college campuses in the name of “non-discrimination.” Whether these efforts hold up in court remains to be seen.
Fix Contributor Julia Dent is a freshman at Meredith College.
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