A UCSD committee recommended policy changes that would bar funding of student organizations that discriminate in their membership and events that exclude any campus groups.
Students pray during a meeting of the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, which routinely uses campus facilities for its activities, though it does not receive much campus funding.
The Student Regulations Review Committee suggested establishing the rule to adapt to a lawsuit filed by a Christian group against the UC Hastings College of Law. In the 2004 suit, the Christian Legal Society sued the university after the school denied recognition of the group because it did not agree to accept members who openly opposed Christian beliefs.
SRRC concentrated on establishing a policy that applied to religious-based groups because of the lawsuit, according to committee chair and acting Student Policies and Judicial Affairs acting Director Anthony Valladolid. The policy, if approved by the University Office of the President, would prohibit the university from granting funds to events that exclude any groups.
The committee did strike a balance, however, by allowing discriminating groups to use campus facilities, Valladolid said. Exclusive groups would also be allowed to receive funding for events that was open to the whole campus.
“These kind of groups are permitted to exist and register,” Valladolid said. “The limitation is they cannot get direct funding from campus. Now, the university has a firm policy on this topic which we didn’t have before.”
The rule, however, remains unclear in practice, as judging whether or not content is inherently discriminatory is “very difficult if not impossible,” according to Valladolid.
