Campus Dodges Charter Lawsuit

Officials for a civil liberties organization said Monday they would not pursue litigation against UNC after Chancellor James Moeser recently agreed to recognize a campus Christian group whose charter violated the school's anti-discrimination policy.

In the meantime, 16 other campus groups also have been scrutinized for bylaws that have been identified as contradicting UNC policy.

The Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights in Education said late last month that it was ready to sue the University after Division of Student Affairs officials sent a letter to the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship informing the group that its right to receive funding would be revoked if its charter was not changed by Jan. 31. Student Affairs officials sent a similar letter to 16 other groups.

UNC's anti-discrimination policy requires that "openness to full membership and participation must be available to all members of the University community without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, disability, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender (where applicable)."

But during a campuswide review of every student organization's bylaws, officials claimed that many groups, including InterVarsity, were not in congruence with this policy.

While InterVarsity allows students of any race, gender, ethnicity or religious belief to join its organization, its charter states that leaders of the organization must uphold the values and beliefs of Christian doctrine.

Stephie Crowell, former small group coordinator for the Granville/off-campus chapter of InterVarsity, said leaders should represent and uphold the common goals of the organization that they are representing. "The leaders have biblical standards that they should believe in and adhere to," Crowell said.

InterVarsity was asked to modify its charter to allow members of any religious belief to hold a leadership position in its organization, but Moeser released a statement Dec. 31 allowing the group to continue to be recognized by the school.

"(UNC) values its long relationship with the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and the valuable contributions to student life and campus leadership that the IVCF has made in its many years here," Moeser wrote in his statement. "I want to preserve that relationship."

The other 16 organizations on campus still must comply with the anti-discriminatory policy. Group leaders said they plan to modify their charters when their organizations meet at the start of the semester.

Some of the groups in jeopardy are the Native American Law Student Association, Episcopal Campus Ministry, the Bahais of UNC-CH and Brotherhood in Christ. Almost all of the groups are cultural or religious in nature.

FIRE President Alan Charles Kors said UNC demonstrated a double standard concerning the protection of First Amendment rights for students through the summer reading controversy, when students were asked to read a book about the Quran.

Kors said that Moeser rightly talked about a diversity of voices on campus concerning the freshman summer reading requirement but that InterVarsity was denied its First Amendment rights when administrators mandated that the group's charter not require leaders to uphold Christian values.

"Chancellor Moeser's response was appropriate in that he restored basic constitutional rights to the student body," he said.

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.