Saturday, September 24, 2011
Vanderbilt and religious organizations on campus
At Vanderbilt University, I was an officer in the Saint Thomas More Society. To renew the annual charter of an organization getting campus money, you have to promise not to discriminate against anyone, even if they despise the mission and purpose of the organization. In practice, it's usually not trouble. So far, white supremacists have never tried to join the Black Law Students Association. Men can join the Women Law Students Association, though few do. Ridiculous rules eventually get ridiculous results however. It would be possible for large numbers of Christians to join the Muslim Student Association and elect a young Baptist deacon as president. It would be possible for members of the Federalist Society to "take over" the Trial Lawyers Association. In the current campus environment, it is more likely that a leftist and secular group would show up in large numbers to embarrass a conservative or orthodox religious group. Vanderbilt is least likely to be a place of campus unrest, but its absurd political correctness, when copied elsewhere, will make national news at some point.
Labels:
campus,
Christian,
political correctness,
religion,
secular,
Vanderbilt University
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2 comments:
This policy was in effect at my law school back in the early 1990's, and it is still in effect there today. When I was a member of the pro-life student group, a group of pro-choice students did try to take over the pro-life group. They were thwarted by only a couple of votes. Nevertheless, the policy wasn't changed, and it is still rigorously enforced.
The Christian Legal Society just lost a challenge to this absurdity, but the law requires a universities to do what they do.
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