Campus Access Concerns

InterVarsity believes that campus Christian organizations have the right to require their leaders to believe and follow the basic Christian principles and goals of their organization based, in part, on the free exercise clause in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and, in part, on simple logic. We believe our chapters contribute to a positive campus environment through volunteer activities and the high moral standards required of our student members. However, on a number of campuses, we are facing challenges to our ability to define ourselves as a Christian organization.

Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt has placed on provisional status InterVarsity’s Graduate Christian Fellowship and several other Christian organizations until the issue of compliance with the University’s nondiscrimination policy is resolved. InterVarsity believes Vanderbilt’s nondiscrimination policy infringes on our religious rights by restricting our ability to determine the leadership and the character of our organization.

• Vanderbilt’s statement, September 27, 2011
• InterVarsity Campus Staff Member Tish Warren Harrison’s response
• InterVarsity’s Statement of Doctrine and Beliefs
• Chancellor’s message on nondiscrimination, January 20, 2012
• Town Hall Meeting announcement

History

InterVarsity has been dealing with campus access issues for more than ten years. We filed action in federal court on October 3, 2006, on behalf of students involved in InterVarsity at the University of Wisconsin-Superior after the chapter was derecognized. We were also concerned about the August, 2006, disaffiliation of our chapters on the campus of Georgetown University. In 2002 InterVarsity filed suit against Rutgers University to defend the rights of our student chapter. Concerns have been resolved without confrontation on other campuses, such as at the University of Michigan. We are pleased to report that the UW-Superior, Georgetown University, and Rutgers University situations were agreeably resolved and that InterVarsity students in these chapters continue to be part of thriving, officially recognized, campus organizations.

We remain concerned about the impact of the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court verdict in the case of Christian Legal Society v. Martinez on some of our chapters. We believe that the decision is, in fact, much narrower than some schools realize. We also are encouraged by the 2012 Supreme Court Decision in the case of Hosanna-Tabor Church v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Although it’s a narrowly written decision, the unanimous ruling of the justices endorsed the principal of religious organizations being free from government interference in leadership decisions.