At the intersection of religion and free speech: Liberty University and the College Democrats

There's an interesting juxtaposition in national and local (northwest Florida, a/k/a America's Taint™) news this morning with regard to the First Amendment. While the Amendment's text guarantees freedom of and from religious expression and freedom of speech, the two aren't always synchronous. And two news stories are bearing that out today.

The first* comes from Lynchburg, Va., where Liberty Zombie Jerry Falwell University has denied its College Democrats club the right to exist.

Officials at the private Lynchburg school, which was founded by the Rev. Jerry Falwell, said they made the decision after receiving complaints from trustees, parents and donors.

"They really are great kids and good friends of mine," said Jerry Falwell Jr., who became the school's chancellor after his father died in 2007. "It's just an issue of what Liberty's mission is."

[...]

Diaz was informed in a May 15 e-mail from Student Affairs Vice President Mark Hine that the club, which has about 30 members, will no longer be able to use Liberty's name or be eligible for funding because of the party's stand on abortion rights and gay rights issues.

Mathew D. Staver, dean of the university's school of law, said Liberty recently came up with new guidelines for all student groups. On May 15, a campuswide review began. The recognition of only the Democratic club has been revoked. Staver said the students can continue to meet in certain locations on campus, and school officials have encouraged them to find a parent organization that supports a "pro-life, pro-family" platform.

Maria Childress, the club's adviser and an administrative assistant at the school, said she is trying to appeal the decision to Falwell.

Katie Naranjo, president of the College Democrats of America, said, "It's astonishing that in the 21st century an institution for higher education would demand a student group be thrown off campus for their political views."

First of all ... Mathew Staver ... I've heard that name before ...

Right! Staver is representing the woman who wants to uphold Florida's ban on same-sex adoptions. And he got smacked down by a state appeals court last week. Poor guy. But at least he's consistent in his bigotry.

Anyway, granted, Liberty is a private institution, and as such they pretty much can do what they want (although, since they accept federal funds for financial aid, they cannot discriminate on the basis of race, gender, etc., unless they disavow that funding like Hillsdale College has done). And, frankly, students who go to Liberty have to expect that if they are Democrats or have non-conservative political beliefs, they might not be in a friendly environment. But still, this is different than, say, outlawing dancing at Bob Jones University or even the anachronistic rules at Pensacola Christian College. This is direct censorship of opinion. Yet, because it's a private entity, it may very well be legal.

But it certainly doesn't bode well for receiving an even nominally well-rounded education at Liberty University. Ironic, given Chancellor Falwell's statement last fall: "My father always said you can disagree without being disagreeable, and that’s the message we’re trying to teach these kids [...] We’re all part of the same LU community." That's a pretty intolerant community, eh, Chancellor? I mean, even an official of the LU College Republicans acknowledged the benefits of having a College Democrats chapter there, when she said in April:

“You can’t have College Republicans debating each other,” [College Republicans Public Relations Director Melinda] Zosh said. “Now we can have an open forum where the College Republicans and the College Democrats can debate the issues.”

Zosh thinks it is important to have both a College Republicans and a College Democrats on any academic university.

“I think it’s great for students to have opportunities to explore different viewpoints,” Zosh said. “Having this kind of forum will help prepare students for the world they will go into after they graduate.”

Which brings us back to Liberty's mission. Recall that Chancellor Falwell said that the decision to force the College Democrats to disband is "just an issue of what Liberty's mission is." So, what is that Mission?

To develop Christ-centered men and women with the values, knowledge, and skills essential to impact tomorrow’s world. The mission is carried out for resident students through a rigorous academic program and structured social environment. It is carried out for external students in a comparable academic program but without the structure of the resident community.

Are they now saying Democrats can't be Christians? Or that Christians can't be Democrats? (They'd probably agree with the latter, actually ...) Is it really possible to imbue the "values, knowledge, and skills essential to impact tomorrow's world" by exposing students to only one ideological perspective? Perhaps that's what LU wants to do, but I don't think that strictly follows the letter of the Mission.

Let's drill down further, to the Aims by which the university seeks to accomplish its mission. (Note how they number the introductory phrase. Remedial outlining, anyone?)

1. In support of its Philosophy and Mission, Liberty University seeks to develop the whole person by providing its students with intellectual and cultural pursuits that:
2. Contribute to a knowledge and understanding of other cultures and of international events.
3. Promote an understanding of the Western tradition and the diverse elements of American cultural history, especially the importance of the individual in maintaining democratic and free market processes.

[...]

6. Convey the different ways of acquiring knowledge in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.
7. Enable them to engage in a major field of study built on a solid foundation in the liberal arts.
8. Explore the moral dimensions and ethical implications in the disciplines offered by the University.

[...]

11. Cultivate a sensitivity to the needs of others and a commitment to the betterment of humanity.

I'm not going to comment on the irony of a radically rightist university desiring to "cultivate a sensitivity to the needs of others ..." (and yeah, I see the bit about "free market" in there to appease the Randians), but there is a lot of language in those Aims about diversity and exposing students to different viewpoints. Thus, it seems misguided, even hypocritical, for Falwell to cite the university's Mission as the reason for this kind of viewpoint discrimination, this blatant violation of academic freedom.

Finally, you shouldn't miss what I think is the ultimate driving force in this decision. As quoted above, the university experienced pressure from "trustees, parents, and donors." Oftentimes, those categories overlap, and I assure you as a longtime university fund raiser myself, if the institution gets a lot of complaints from donors and threats to withhold future gifts, that has a powerful effect on the institution's decisionmaking process. I believe that's exactly what's happened here, and as a result, Liberty's students, liberal and conservative alike, are going to be deprived of a big part of the educational diversity the university's own Mission promises.

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* I'll post on the second, local story later this afternoon. Related post is now available.