University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Refusal to Allow Christian Clubs to Require Christian Leadership
An administrator at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill threatened the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF) with a loss of all privileges and funding because it required its leaders to adhere to the IVCF's Christian doctrine. After FIRE reminded UNC of the student organization's rights of religious liberty, free expression, and free association, however, Chancellor James Moeser ordered "that IVCF be allowed to continue to operate as an official recognized student organization."
Case Materials
"Professor Mike Adams on Religious Discrimination in Higher Education," Mike Adams, Townhall, July 27, 2003: In a recent column, Mike Adams, professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, raises serious questions about religious liberty, legal equality, and free association at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (UNC). A FIRE ally and a strong defender of liberty in higher education, Adams argues that UNC employs a double standard against religious students, denying them the right to associate on terms of their own lawful choosing.
"Victory for Religious Liberty at UNC," FIRE Press Release, January 2, 2003: On December 30, 2002, FIRE drew widespread public attention to the revocation of a Christian student group's constitutional and moral rights at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (UNC). The next day, UNC folded its hand. An administrator had threatened the InterVarsity christian Fellowship (IVCF) with a loss of all privileges and funding because it required its leaders to adhere to the IVCF's Christian doctrine. On December 31, 2002, Chancellor James Moeser ordered "that IVCF be allowed to continue to operate as an official recognized student organization"—restoring, for now, the rights of religious liberty, free expression, and free association to the IVCF at this public institution.
"InterVarsity Multi-Ethnic Christian Fellowship Banned at Rutgers University; InterVarsity Christian Fellowship Threatened with Similar Punishment at UNC," FIRE Press Release, December 30, 2002: Rutgers University and UNC-Chapel Hill have both denied Christian student groups the right to take into account religious beliefs when selecting religious leaders. A lawsuit was filed against Rutgers today by FIRE Legal Network attorney David A. French. The most fundamental constitutional and moral rights—freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of association, and due process—are all at stake at these state institutions.
"UNC-Chapel Hill Tries to Spin Away a Major Defeat," Greg Lukianoff and Samantha Harris, Daily Journal, May 25, 2006: The university can spin this case however it wants, but the facts are not on its side. The university wasted countless hours and taxpayer dollars in a failed attempt to exclude a Christian group that only wanted to maintain its Christian identity, and then had to change its policies and recognize the group.
"Ignorance of our founding principles can endanger us all," Katherine Kersten, Star Tribune (Minneapolis–St. Paul), March 5, 2006: Last week, FIRE took a significant step toward guaranteeing religious freedom in our own back yard. Lukianoff reports that after months of pressure from FIRE, the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire agreed to drop its policy banning student resident assistants from leading Bible studies (or Torah or Koran studies) in their dormitories. UW System President Kevin Reilly proposed repealing the ban, though the UW Board of Regents must approve.
"Campus Left to Christians, Conservatives: Shut Up!," Mark Tapscott, Townhall.com, December 24, 2005: Take California State University at San Bernadino, for example, where administrators refuse to charter the Christian Students Association because the group thinks its members should be professing Christians. Imagine that!
"10 great cigars and why I smoked them," Mike Adams, Townhall.com, June 13, 2005: I smoked my first CAO Cameroon the week that the FIRE defeated speech codes at two American campuses on two consecutive days. Where do these guys get all their energy?
