InterVarsity Chapter Restored to Legal Status

News Release
For Immediate Release

(Madison, WI)—Alec Hill, president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, today announced that InterVarsity and the University of Wisconsin (UW) have reached a stipulated agreement that at least temporarily restores official recognition to InterVarsity’s chapter at the UW-Superior.

In October, InterVarsity sued the UW-Superior and other UW officials to win back recognition rights for its chapter. The chapter had been notified last February that it was being stripped of its official recognition because it required chapter leaders to affirm InterVarsity’s Basis of Faith. The UW-Superior claimed that requirement violated its non-discrimination policy. InterVarsity maintains that a student religious organization should be able to require reasonable religious standards for its student leadership.

The stipulated agreement says that InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at UW Superior (IVCF-UWS) will enjoy all the benefits of recognized status while the case is pending before federal court. Those benefits are:

• the right to use the university’s name in its title
• the use of the university’s facilities for its activities
• the right to campus advertising privileges
• the use of the university’s administrative services
• the opportunity to apply for student segregated funds

“This is a positive step towards the goal we seek, which is the treatment of InterVarsity chapters and all Christian student organizations equally with other student organizations,” said Hill. “We are hopeful that this foreshadows a final agreement that restores the rights of InterVarsity students on the University of Wisconsin campus.”

For more information contact:
Gordon Govier
Media Relations
(608) 443-3688