Religious Freedom Defender Wants Equal Treatment for Christian Student Club
by Jim Brown
May 19, 2004
(AgapePress) - The threat of a federal lawsuit has prompted a New Hampshire high school to permit a Christian student club on campus. However, an attorney representing the Christian group says the school may still be engaging in viewpoint discrimination.When officials at Spaulding High School in Rochester denied student Jessica Meserve's requests to form a Christian club, the sophomore contacted the Thomas More Law Center, a Michigan-based non-profit law firm dedicated to defending and promoting the religious freedom of Christians.
Center attorney Rob Muise then sent out a letter to the school, demanding that Meserve be given the same rights and privileges afforded to the school's other student groups, such as Spaulding High School's Straight and Gay Alliance.
"We identified the federal law that applied in this case," the attorney notes, "which says that if a school has one non-curriculum related student club, then they can't deny other such student clubs on the basis of the viewpoint of the club or because it might be religious in nature."
Shortly after receiving the demand letter, the school had a change of heart and decided it will no longer bar the Christian student from starting an on-campus club for believing students. But Muise says the school is not out of the woods yet.
The Thomas More lawyer says Spaulding High School still appears to be giving the Straight and Gay Alliance special treatment while denying Meserve's group the same consideration, seemingly putting the SAGA group in a separate category from the Christian organization. Because of this, he says the legal group is taking a "wait and see" approach to the case.
Muise insists that, by law, school officials must ensure equal treatment and equal access for Meserve's group. "They said she can have this club," he says, "but under the law, they can't just characterize one student club in one way and another student club another way and then deny the clubs equal rights, benefits and privileges."
Meserve hopes to get the Christian student club up and running by the end of the week so she can start planning for next year's events. She says getting approval was "step one" for her group, and the next step involves gaining access to Spaulding High School facilities, including the school's public address system and website.
