D.C.-based firm bankrolls another religious freedom lawsuit against University of Iowa

Aimee Breaux | Press Citizen

Update: The University of Iowa has agreed to temporarily reinstate the groups that were deregistered until the pending litigation is settled.

Describing it as a fight "for the right to ask its leaders to be Christians," a student group has plans to sue the University of Iowa for stripping it of official recognition.

The suit, expected to be filed Monday, is the second lawsuit launched on behalf of a student group by Becket, a nonprofit law firm based in Washington D.C. This time the firm is representing InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, one of 38 student groups expelled from the University following the firm's initial lawsuit, Business Leaders In Christ vs University of Iowa.

The university stripped Business Leaders in Christ, or BLinC, of its official recognition in 2017, because the group denied a leadership position to an openly gay student who refused to reject homosexuality.

BLinC received a temporary injunction from the court just in time for members to participate in an annual club fair. While the university argued that the club violated its Human Rights Policy by discriminating against a student on the basis of sexual orientation, the judge who issued the injunction stated that the university did not uniformly enforce any such anti-discrimination policy.

According to court documents, the university then set out to proactively enforce its Human Rights Policy in January and February. The university reviewed constitutions from 513 student organizations and found that 356 did not feature a "full and correct" Human Rights Clause.

The bulk of the groups were given until June 15 to remedy their constitutions. Sororities and fraternities were given extra time, until Sept. 4 — UI lawyers clarified in legal documents that this was because these groups, by their categorization, do not have constitutions.

Emails were sent to clubs not in compliance. The Center for Student Involvement and Leadership reviewed submissions and met with club leaders to ensure compliance was met. But by the June deadline, 38 groups, including InterVarsity, were deregistered.

Daniel Blomberg, senior counsel at Becket, said the group has always had the clause, but it hasn't been up to the unfair standard of the university. Blomberg said much like BLinC, the group allows any student to join, but to be a leader, students have to share the Christian faith that the groups has.

"The students asked the school to cut them some slack, to allow them to do the same thing they've been doing for 25 years without any trouble, and the university said no," he said. "They weren't even allowed to encourage their leaders to be Christian."

Bloomberg points out that the list of newly deregistered groups includes other clubs with religious affiliations, including the Sikh Awareness Club, the Chinese Student Christian Fellowship, the Imam Mahdi Organization, and the Latter-day Saint Student Association.

Becket touts a client list across the U.S., including some clients who are not Christian. But the group may have gained the most notoriety nationally for defending Hobby Lobby in the 2014 U.S. Supreme Court case that established the right of religiously affiliated for-profit corporations to deny contraception coverage to employees.

As with their other clients, the student groups at UI are not paying for their services.

University of Iowa representatives were not immediately available for comment.

Reporter Aimee Breaux covers education for the Press-Citizen. Reach her at abreaux@press-citizen.com or 319-887-5414, and follow her on Twitter @aimee_breaux.