Diverse religious organizations today welcomed a new Department of Education regulation that strengthens campus non-discrimination and inclusion policies. The new regulation encourages public colleges to treat all campus groups fairly, allowing each group to select leaders who agree with their groups’ religious beliefs.
This regulation arose because public colleges sometimes discriminated against Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, Sikh and other religious clubs based on their religious expectations for their leaders. For example, in 2018, the University of Iowa derecognized multiple religious groups, including Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Jewish, and Hindu student groups because their faith traditions require that religious observances be led by people from their faith.
Student groups with official university recognition enjoy access to campus meeting space and to a variety of channels of communication with other students. Religious organizations from diverse faith traditions agree they want to maintain their right to choose leaders who practice their religious mission and tenets.
“This regulation was unfortunately necessary because some universities would give official recognition only to certain faith-based groups, while rejecting others,” said Greg Jao, Director of External Relations for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, which has its national office in Madison.