TROY, Alabama -- The Wisconsin-based group investigating the legality of new faith-based dormitories at Troy University and other public colleges says it has received new complaints about religious activities on Troy University campus.



Andrew Seidel, staff attorney for the Freedom From Religion Foundation gave few details about the complaints, saying the foundation needs to verify them first.



But he said they involve "religiosity on campus" and came to light only after the group sent the university a letter seeking information to determine the legality of school's new the faith-based dorms.



The foundation is awaiting a response to that letter, and Seidel said they will send a second request to Troy regarding the new complaints. He would not say whether the foundation is willing to file a lawsuit against the university if it is not satisfied with the responses.



"We have five lawsuits going on against schools throughout the country right now, but that's not what we prefer to do," he said.



"We think the law is pretty clear on this, so we really would like to see the university uphold and revere the Constitution over the religious beliefs of some of their staff and possibly students."



In an Aug. 1 letter to Troy University Chancellor Jack Hawkins Jr, the foundation alleged the new dorms violate fair-housing laws by implementing a religious test for admittance and that the dorms violate constitutional provisions guaranteeing the separation of church and state.



(Click here to download a PDF of the letter provided by the Freedom From Religion Foundation.)



Opened to students on Aug. 9, the $11.8 million dorms were built by the school's private fundraising arm, the Troy University Foundation, which will also pay for maintenance and management of the facility.

The foundation borrowed money from a local bank to fund the construction project, university officials said.

The foundation is leasing the roughly five-acre property where the dorms are located from the university at a rate of $1 per year for 25 years. At the end of the lease period, ownership of the dorms will be transferred to the university.



That means the costly construction project is kept off the public university's books, so it will not impact the school's AAA bond rating from Moody's Investors Service. It also means the dorms are not paid for with public dollars.



The lease is similar to arrangements the university used to build secular dorms in 2006.



The dorms also include a 2,300 square foot Newman Center of Catholic ministry leased by the archdiocese of Mobile.



The archdiocese is paying $17,000 a year for that property, which includes an office for the local priest and a small chapel, said Nicholas Cervera, an attorney for Troy University.

University officials were not immediately available to comment on the latest allegations, but Cervera said last week the dorms do not exclude any students, including atheists.

Since July, the university has backpedaled on some purported requirements for living in the dorms.

Senior Vice Chancellor for Advancement and External Relations John Schmidt initially said the dorms would give preference to students of Christian faiths.

"It is (open to international students), and we hope that they would be aligned to one of the faiths, but the preference would be to one of the Christian faiths," he said in July when asked how the university would handle non-Christian international students seeking to live in the dorm.

But a university spokesman later said no preference would be given to Christians over any other religions.

Additionally, the university removed language from its website stating that in order to live in the dorms students must be actively involved in one of the campus' faith-based organizations, which are predominantly Christian.

A spokesman for the university said that language was removed from the website because it was never one of the requirements.

The new dorms feature three Catholic and three Baptists resident advisers. They are intended for students with active spiritual lifestyles, according to the university.

Residents are required to engage at least semi-annually in a community-service or service-learning project, such as food or clothing drive. The university has removed language from its website stating that service must be conducted in conjunction with a church.

They must also refrain from using illegal drugs or alcohol while in the facility -- a rule that applies to all Troy dormitories -- and maintain a minimum 2.5 grade point average.