Andy Ogles: “This amendment simply inserts or adds a clarifying clause. While religious student groups are free to select people who…”

“This amendment simply inserts or adds a clarifying clause. While religious student groups are free to select people who aren't members of their religion to lead them, most people agree that it is reasonable for a Muslim student group to want its leaders to be, well, Muslim or a Catholic student group to want its leaders to be practicing Catholics. Unfortunately, administrators of some of our universities keep showing that they disagree. Many believe that if a religious group requires that its leaders are of their religion that it is somehow unfair discrimination. It is only common sense that a religious group should be able to require its leaders to agree with its religious message and mission. Because student leaders may lead the group's Scripture, prayer, or worship, they should have a familiarity and agree with the group's religious beliefs. In 2018, the University of Iowa threatened to derecognize almost every religious group on campus: Christian, Jewish, and Muslim. It was a deliberate effort to force religious student groups to abandon their religious leadership requirements. In 2021, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the university administrators were personally liable for violating the religious groups' First Amendment rights, but that required 3 years of litigation.…”