InterVarsity Granted Interim Recognition Amid Lawsuit
After facing de-recognition at a major university, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship has been granted full benefits of official recognition while the campus ministry’s lawsuit against the school is pending.
The University of Wisconsin-Superior agreed to a stipulated injunction, allowing the campus ministry to operate on campus as the lawsuit moves forward. InterVarsity had filed suit in October to be reinstated as a campus organization.
“The university was giving InterVarsity second-class treatment on campus,” said Alliance Defense Fund Senior Legal Counsel David French, director of ADF’s Center for Academic Freedom, which is representing the ministry chapter in this case. “This stipulated injunction will allow the InterVarsity chapter to enjoy the same benefits and privileges of all other groups while the court considers the case.”
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While InterVarsity students have been active at the university for decades, the campus group was derecognized for the 2006-2007 school year in February claiming that the group's requirements for leadership went against the school's anti-discrimination policy. InterVarsity requires its leaders to affirm the ministry's Basis of Faith.
InterVarsity President Alec Hill had commented that the university's position defies common sense and denies any religious organization the ability to maintain its own identity.
De-recognition of student groups deny them official recognition by the university and deprive them of access to campus facilities and student funding.''
As the lawsuit progresses, the University of Wisconsin-Superior and the InterVarsity chapter agreed to stipulated injunction, which was then approved by the U.S. District Court for Western Wisconsin on Monday.
The case is InterVarsity Christian Fellowship-UW Superior v. The Regents of the University of Wisconsin System.
