We have an update to a post published last month about Atlantic Cape Community College in New Jersey, which was discriminating against Christian and political student clubs.
The school told the Christian Club that they would not receive funding because it’s a Christian club. No funds for political clubs, either. But the “pride” club did receive funds.
The Christian Club’s legal counsel, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), sent a letter informing school officials that the ban was discriminatory. ADF asked the school to restore funding to the club.
The College Fix reported that the state’s Board of Trustees for public colleges voted to remove language that barred funds for religious and political clubs — with restrictions. From The College Fix:
The revised policy, adopted Feb. 25, states that all official student organizations may request funding for activities through the Student Government Association.
It also specifies how “religious or political organizations” may use the SGA funds, including for “[e]ducational programs, lectures, panels, or discussions,” guest speakers, and events that are “nonpartisan, educational in nature, and approved in advance pursuant to College and SGA procedures.”
William Donio, Atlantic Cape Community College’s lawyer, said there was no “formal funding request” for funding from the Christian Club.
“However,” The College Fix said, “Donio also wrote that college President Barabara Gaba and other leaders were ‘investigating the language’ of the policy and would recommend that the trustees modify it ‘so that the Christian Club will be able to receive funds in addition to the support it is already receiving.'”
Photo credit: By Sasae86 – iphone, CC BY-SA 4.0, link
