'All Comers' Ban to Protect Religious Freedom of Va. Campus Groups

By Myles Collier, Christian Post Contributor Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Members of the Virginia state legislature recently passed a bill giving college groups the right to approve or disapprove membership for individuals based solely on their beliefs.

The bill, referred to as Senate Bill 1074, was written to protect the state's universities from implementing an "all-comers" requirement that would force all groups recognized by a university to accept members who may not agree with the group's platform. 1074 was developed to prevent a university from forcing religious and other political groups from accepting members who may not share the same outlook or values of the organization.

"Permits, to the extent allowed by law, religious or political student organizations at public institutions of higher education to determine that only persons committed to the organization's mission may conduct certain activities," reads the official summary of SB 1074. "The bill also prohibits, to the extent allowed by law, public institutions of higher education from discriminating against a student organization that makes such a determination."

Robert L. Shibley, senior vice president for the student rights watchdog the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, previously told The Christian Post that his organization supports the legislation.

"FIRE wrote a letter to legislators in support of SB 1074 and generally supports state laws that guarantee belief-based student groups at public universities the right to make belief-based decisions about their membership and leadership," said Shibley.

"The lack of this right harms the ability of groups to express their views effectively on campus. For instance, Vanderbilt's "all-comers" policy actually restricts religious student groups from requiring leaders to lead Bible studies or worship. This is absurd and serves students very poorly," he added.

However, opponents of the bill claim that the new measure will allow for the discrimination of gay and lesbian persons that wish to join various recognized groups on college campuses.

"Excluding students from joining an organization is discrimination plain and simple, and the true impact is to be seen here," Kevin Clay, spokesman Equality Virginia, told Campus Progress.

Before the bill can become law, it must first be signed by Gov. Bob McDonnell.