Brooke Metz

USA TODAY

For college students, campus organizations often serve as a home away from home while they are at school.

So what happens when the foundations of that home are shaken?

That’s what students on all 23 California State University campuses encountered when they returned to school in August and found that InterVarsity, a Christian campus ministry that provides a safe place for college students to engage in worship and fellowship, no longer qualified as an official student organization.

“It’s definitely a trial,” says 22-year-old Brennan Pryor, a senior at the Sonoma State campus. “We try to include absolutely everybody, and the reason we’re being de-recognized is because we are considered discriminatory.”

InterVarsity’s bylaws include a rule that says leaders of the group must possess Christian beliefs and values, and potential student leaders must sign a statement of faith before being able to assume any higher role within the organization.

“We believe Scripture clearly teaches that Christian groups should be led by Christian believers,” says Greg Jao, National Field Director of the Northeast Cluster for InterVarsity. “Our student leaders don’t function simply as president or secretary. They lead worship and Bible studies. They must believe what they’re teaching.”

According to officials at California State, however, holding to that belief infringes upon state law.

“InterVarsity requires leaders to sign a statement of faith, and that violates not only California State policy, but also state law,” says Mike Uhlenkamp, director of public affairs at the chancellor’s office. “They want their leaders to have specific values. If you force someone to sign a form, you are discriminating by making them say they are a Christian.”

Some students agree with the university’s decision. “They’re not following the regulation,” says California State Bakersville senior Alexander Ripepi, 21. “They should expect this.”

Others don’t understand why the bylaw is so important to InterVarsity. “Their purpose won’t be met by having leaders say they’re Christian,” says California State Bakersville junior Oscar Mira, 19. “Anyone could sign off on a belief. It should be based more on their actions rather than their claim to be Christian.”

The university maintains InterVarsity’s bylaws must be altered in order for the group to regain recognition, but InterVarsity students believe changing their standards to appease the school would harm their religious integrity.

“If we changed our bylaws, we would not have the moral code we strive for,” says 19-year-old Sonoma State sophomore Chelsea Ruthrauff. “People can believe what they want, but we should not have to compromise our beliefs for others.”

Holding to those beliefs means some added difficulties on campus, such as extra expenses due to lack of access to meeting rooms. Since InterVarsity is no longer recognized by California State as an official student organization, the group no longer receives as high of a discount on renting rooms for weekly meetings and other regular events as it would if it were still recognized. At Sonoma State, for example, costs may reach up to $30,000 for the year, according to InterVarsity area director Jenny Klouse.

This isn’t the first time religious organizations have experienced conflicts with university policies. InterVarsity chapters at Rollins College and Tufts University have also encountered friction from the school officials because of the organization’s bylaws, and another ministry, Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru), was de-recognized at Vanderbilt last year for similar regulation issues.

It is, however, the first time the group’s shutdown has affected so many chapters at once.

“We have been taken to court by faith-based groups in the past and prevailed,” says Uhlenkamp. “There are thousands of groups across our campuses. This is the only one not complying.”

Still, InterVarsity refuses to surrender its convictions. “Our religion teaches that religious beliefs aren’t up for democratic vote,” says Jao. “Based on 2,000 years of church history, we believed we could not change our position.”

And on California State campuses, the chapters will not back down. From walking around student activities fairs with InterVarsity banners on their backpacks to simply talking to and forming connections with others, students are finding ways around no longer being an official campus organization.

“This is not going to stop us,” says Klouse. “We’re just going to become more creative.”

InterVarsity also recently announced that they are using the challenge as a way to “reinvent” the ministry on campus.

“We are hoping that by starting a national conversation, the university will be true to their founding goals to create conditions in which they can still have conversations with students whose beliefs they may not agree,” says Jao. “Civil discourse is important, rather than the attempt to exclude voices they disagree with.”

California State is working with InterVarsity to come to some sort of resolution, and Pryor says school officials have been supportive. “They do what they can to help us out.”

Uhlenkamp reiterated that the university still wants the students on campus. “That they are not welcome is the farthest thing from the truth,” he says. “We are happy to have them.”

While InterVarsity will continue to make its presence known on the California State campuses, students say it’s most important to remember the organization’s goal.

“We aren’t here to discriminate; we’re just here to love people,” says Ruthrauff. “It’s easy for Christians to be labeled as exclusive, but we want to demonstrate the true meaning of Jesus — love and loving others. I want other people to notice that and maybe find that for themselves.”



Brooke Metz is a junior at Wake Forest University.

This story originally appeared on the USA TODAY College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.