Student Religious Groups on Private College Campuses

This article points out that the First Amendment religion clauses offers little protection to student religious groups on private college campuses, which isn’t saying much, considering how little they seem to offer to those groups in public universities .

What’s more, “[a]ny attempt at legal action might cause collateral damage for private Christian colleges, said Thomas Berg, professor of law and public policy at the University of St. Thomas. ‘Religious colleges themselves have significant interest in making decisions based on religion,’ he said. ‘To to prohibit religious discrimination by all private colleges . . . could really have a bad effect on the freedom of religious organizations.’”  In other words, litigation could open up a veritable Pandora’s Box, with bad effects for faith-based institutions.

So religious organizations have to proceed “relationally,” trying to figure out what motivates campus authorities in particular cases and hoping that arrangements can be worked out with people of good will.

All too often, however, there’s no good will—at least toward traditionally-minded religious groups—on the other side.  Last year’s Supreme Court decision in the CLS case has emboldened those who would challenge those groups.  And those challengers are not proving to be very generous or magnanimous toward religious freedom.  The claims of non-discrimination and equal rights tend to sweep everything away.

Now that’s a happy thought for the future, isn’t it?

Joseph Knippenberg is Professor of Politics at Oglethorpe University.