In a noble effort to assure diversity and nondiscrimination within academia, the application of the rules has reached far beyond their noble intent and now border on the absurd. Any group, but particularly a religious group, has an inalienable right to require its leadership to hold beliefs that form the basis for the group's very existence. Here's hoping the courts reject arguments to the contrary and reach the logical conclusion without delay.
From Time Magazine January 13, 2003:
Does a Christian student organization have the right to insist that its leaders be Christians? Several universities say no, and a growing legal battle has resulted. The InterVarsity Multiethnic Christian Fellowship at Rutgers filed suit last week after the university eliminated the group's $1200. in funding. Rutgers claimed that the group was violating the university's antidiscrimination rules, which stipulate that an organization may not discriminate on the basis of religious beliefs when choosing its leaders. The group says the decision violates its freedom of religion and association.
Christian groups at the University of North Carolina and Harvard are fighting similar efforts to strip them of funding unless they embrace nondiscrimination clauses. The schools claim that they are simply adhering to antidiscrimination policies. The students say it makes no sense to forbid a Christian fellowship to require its leaders to agree with certain tenets of Christianity. "We're not trying to exclude," says Laura Vellenga. New Jersey area director for InterVarsity, which has fellowships on 560 campuses across the U.S. "But we want to reserve leadership positions to what the fellowship is about." -by Perry Bacon
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