New Virtual Source Defends Christian Student Rights
Tuesday, Sep. 5, 2006 Posted: 08:58:36 AM PDT
Georgia Tech proscribes what is appropriate speech in various speech codes on campus, limiting students from expressing views that may seem "intolerant," according to the Alliance Defense Fund.
The University of Mary Washington denies recognition to any student group that is religious or political in nature.
And Georgetown University now bans evangelical Christian ministries and other outside religious groups from its campus.
Amid the escalating attacks on religious freedom, Christian students are now being backed with an online source to help defend their rights on college campuses.
The Alliance Defense Fund recently launched a virtual ministry called the Center for Academic Freedom to provide Christian college students an understanding of their constitutional rights and to ensure that "faith has a voice."
"America’s colleges and universities should give Christian students the same rights as all other students,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel David French, director of the Center for Academic Freedom, in a released statement. “Unfortunately, Christians are increasingly being treated like second-class citizens unless they bow at the altar of political correctness that exists at many of our nation’s public university campuses.”
The new website, centerforacademicfreedom.org, features statements on students' rights, an explanation of current cases ADF is involved in, and an opportunity for discussion and submission of individual requests for defense.
The Christian legal firm newly picked up a case involving Georgetown University, which had banned six evangelical campus ministry organizations from campus. While the renowned Catholic school had been open to various religious groups, the university's Protestant chaplaincy said that Georgetown now wants to focus its ministry efforts through the school rather than through outside groups, according to Agape Press. Outside ministries, including InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship, were thus banned from holding on-campus events and associating themselves with the Georgetown name.
"They do have legal obligations to honor their contracts with their students and to keep their promises," said ADF’s French who is representing the evangelical ministries. "And if they promise students and parents when they apply that Georgetown is going to be open to a wide variety of faiths and different religious points of view, then they need to keep that promise."
And the attacks on more conservative religious students and groups is not unique to Georgetown, French pointed out.
"Our desire is to defend Christian students from having their religious expression marginalized by university officials, but we also desire to educate those officials so that they understand what the Constitution really says about the free religious expression rights of students. We do not oppose universities themselves; we simply oppose unconstitutional policies and treatment,” he added. “This new website will provide students and officials with the information they need, as well as offer support to those students and ministries experiencing difficulties exercising their constitutional rights on campus.”
