Will Georgetown Univ. Reinstate Evangelical Campus Ministries?
by Jim Brown
September 21, 2006
(AgapePress) - - An attorney representing some of the evangelical ministries kicked off the Georgetown University campus in Washington, DC, is hoping to persuade the Catholic school to have a change of heart. An official with Georgetown's Office of Campus Ministry (OCM) recently notified six evangelical groups that they would no longer be allowed to reserve rooms for weekly meetings or to use the university's name. The groups were informed that Georgetown now wants to focus its ministry efforts through the school rather than through outside groups and has decided "not to renew any covenant agreements with any of the Affiliated Ministries." (See earlier article)
David French, who heads the Alliance Defense Fund's Center for Academic Freedom, has sent a letter to the school, urging officials to correct "OCM's discriminatory decision." Now the university is reportedly reviewing its policy toward evangelical students. French indicates the school may be open to persuasion.
"I think what's happened here is that the university's been a bit surprised by the reaction [to its decision affecting the evangelical ministries]," says French. "It also has recognized that it hasn't handled the situation well at all." But French cautions about being too optimistic about the school's apparent self-evaluation.
"Universities often pledge to 'study' things merely as a way of diffusing tensions and blunting any criticism," he says. "This is not a sign that they're going to change course, necessarily; it's merely a sign that at least the conversation continues."
The ADF attorney shares that it is unfortunate, but Georgetown's discriminatory conduct is not an anomaly. "As happens at many universities across the country, it is the most vibrant Christian groups on campus that are often targeted for exclusion and marginalization by the academic establishment," French offers. He has stated previously that more than 50 colleges, including Harvard, Princeton, and the University of Wisconsin, have attempted to end their associations with religious groups active on their campuses.
The groups ejected from the Georgetown campus include InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
