Athens, USA - A Christian fraternity sued University of Georgia leaders in federal court Tuesday, claiming UGA refused to register the group as an official student organization because it requires its members to be Christians.
The group - Beta Upsilon Chi (BYX) or Brothers Under Christ - claims it is losing out on a long list of perks that about 300 other registered student groups receive, including groups that place religious restrictions on their members.
UGA's registered student organizations can receive stipends, reserve meeting space and advertise on campus, and get technical services, financial advice and access to student organization workshops.
BYX is a fraternity of Christian college students whose purpose is to foster "fellowship and the glorification of Jesus Christ," according to the fraternity's Web site.
The fraternity established a chapter at UGA in 2005 and was a registered student organization for the 2005-06 school year, but UGA staff denied BYX's registration application this year because it didn't comply with the university's revised anti-discrimination policy.
The university rejected the fraternity's registration application last month, claiming the group's requirements that members profess faith in Christ is "religious discrimination," according to attorneys with the Christian Legal Society, or CLS, and Alliance Defense Fund, which filed suit on behalf of BYX.
"The primary issue is that Brothers Under Christ should be treated the same as any other organization," said Timothy J. Tracey, an attorney with CLS's Center for Law & Religious Freedom.
None of the 16 other BYX chapters, including those at the University of Texas, Vanderbilt University and the University of Missouri, have been challenged on the basis of religious discrimination, Tracey said.
Faith-based groups - unlike other student groups such as sports teams - must be able to admit members based on their religious affiliation, Tracey said, citing the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964. The federal law prohibits employment discrimination based on race, religion, sex, color and national origin, but provides exceptions for faith-based labor organizations.
Members of BYX must agree with the fraternity's doctrinal statement, which states that "the Bible is God's written revelation to man, that it is inspired, authoritative, and without error in the original manuscripts."
Fraternity members "believe in the personality and deity of the Holy Spirit, that He performs the miracle of regeneration in new believers - sealing them for the day of redemption - and then indwells them, thus enabling them to live godly lives," according to BYX's doctrine, quoted in the lawsuit.
This year, UGA student affairs staff worked with members of faith-based and other student organizations to make sure they knew to include an anti-discrimination clause in their constitutions, said Rodney Bennett, UGA's vice president for student affairs.
After university officials overhauled UGA's policy on anti-discrimination this spring - adding sexual orientation to the list of protected categories that also include sex, race, national origin and religion - student affairs staff reviewed groups' registration requests to see that the groups complied with the policy, Bennett said.
All official student organizations - "without exception" - must include a statement of nondiscrimination in their constitutions, but some groups didn't register because of the requirement, he said.
The only groups exempt from membership discrimination based on gender are UGA's more than 50 fraternities and sororities, which were grandfathered exceptions in the anti-discrimination clause of the federal Title IX law, Bennett said.
Title IX prohibits educational programs that receive federal money from excluding participants based on their gender.
Bennett said student affairs employees have met with some religious student groups to work out an agreement that allows them to require officers to adhere to a group's particular faith, while allowing any student to join.
"Brothers Under Christ was no exception," Bennett said.
ADF and CLS attorneys want the court to declare UGA's nondiscrimination policy unconstitutional and prohibit officials from denying recognition to BYX.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Athens, contends the university has not consistently applied its nondiscrimination requirement to other registered student organizations that require their members to agree with the organization's beliefs.
The suit cites the Baha'i Association of UGA which, the lawsuit says, requires its members to be members of the Baha'i faith, and the Crossway Fellowship College Ministry, which requires its members to attend Sunday worship services at Crossway.
However, the Baha'i group's constitution registered with the university last month states that the student organization is open to anyone regardless of religion, and "any such person may join and remain a member of this association by assenting to its principles and purposes as stated within this constitution."
Defendants include Bennett; UGA President Michael Adams; Ed Mirecki, director of student activities and organizations; and individual members of the University System Board of Regents.
UGA's refusal to register BYX this fall violates the organization's rights to free exercise of religion under the First and 14th Amendments to the Constitution, according to the complaint.
In November 2005, the Alliance Defense Fund sent a letter to the Jackson County School System, saying the system was censoring "anything religious related to the Christmas holiday." The letter was in response to a complaint about an e-mail an elementary school principal sent to teachers, warning them to beware of any statements or displays with a religious connotation.
The school system denied the allegation.
BETA UPSILON CHI
The national Christian fraternity, and its University of Georgia chapter, sued UGA leaders and Board of Regents members, claiming the university violated the fraternity's right to free speech and association. Beta Upsilon Chi requires that members be Christian, and its Doctrinal Statement includes:
Belief in one God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Belief that the Bible is God's written revelation to man and without error in the original manuscripts.
Belief that Jesus Christ is a deity, born of a virgin mother, led a sinless life, performed miracles, died for man's sin, was resurrected, ascended to heaven, intercedes for man and will return to Earth.
Belief that the Holy Spirit resides in born-again Christians, enabling them to live Godly lives.
Belief that sin alienates man from God, but Christ's death and resurrection reunites man with God.