April 24, 2012
A Christian student group at Vanderbilt University has been told by the administration that it will lose its recognized status on campus unless it removes its requirement that its leaders have a commitment to Jesus Christ, the Christian Post reports. Despite an earlier discussion with school officials that led members of the group to believe their bylaws were approved, the group -- which wants to remain anonymous -- received an email last Tuesday from the administration stating that in order for it to retain recognition it had to remove from its constitution the requirement that leaders have a "personal commitment to Jesus Christ" because of the university's new policy barring religious groups from selecting members and leaders based on faith requirements. Recently, Christian students at Vanderbilt organized a video campaign highlighting their concern for the "nondiscrimination" policy that they say actually discriminates against Christians, and 11 Christian groups have formed a coalition called Vanderbilt Solidarity in opposition to the policy. University officials continue to stand by the "all-comers" policy, arguing that it is not an issue of religious freedom.
