Students Rights on Campus
The contemporary academy has become formally hostile to Christianity, and this hostility has profound legal implications. Consider the following documented realities:
Most universities have very few observant Christian professors, and the vast majority of professors as very leftist. Christians find greater barriers to employment and advancement than their non-Christian peers. In general, lefti professors constitute between 80 and 90 percent of any given faculty. In such an environment, Christian professors find it difficult to find employment or be promoted. A recent study found that “observant Christians” were among the most disadvantaged faculty members. Such disparities are often caused by discrimination that exposes every person in the hiring chain to liability, including department chairs, provosts, and even boards of trustees or regents.
The majority of professors express distaste for evangelical Christians. In 2007, the Institute for Jewish and Community Research released a study on the political beliefs and attitudes of college professors. The study was commissioned in part because of concerns that anti-Semitism was rising on campus. Rather than finding rising anti-Semitism, the Institute discovered that 53 percent of college professors admitted to “unfavorable” feelings about evangelical Christians.No other religious group (including Muslims) drew a negative response even close to this number. Professors who dislike entire groups of students are more likely to discriminate or to encourage administrative actions that have a negative impact on Christian students.
Teachers often attempt to indoctrinate their students in the classroom. The American Council of Trustees and Alumni has engaged in a multi-year effort to determine whether teachers’ political philosophies translate into classroom indoctrination. Almost half of the students surveyed found that professors “frequently” inject politics into class, and almost one-third said they felt they had to agree with the professors’ views to get a good grade. This reality leads to student alienation, less patience with perceived discrimination, and a greater readiness to believe that university officials are not acting in good faith when evaluating students or establishing student programs.
Students who disagree with campus orthodoxy often risk punishment for expressing their views. In a university culture dominated by one side of the political spectrum, Christian or conservative speech is often considered “offensive” or “bigoted” and subject to punishment under speech codes and expansive nondiscrimination policies. According to annual surveys by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, more than 70 percent of surveyed colleges and universities have policies in place that prohibit so-called “offensive” speech. While universities have undeniable moral and legal incentives to prohibit truly unlawful discrimination and harassment, they may not do so through “prophylactic” policies that prohibit speech and conduct that the Constitution protects and are subject to vague and biased interpretations. The proper course is not to subject students to vague interpretations of university policies, but to follow the U.S. Supreme Court’s clearly defined standards for “hostile environment” harassment when drafting those policies.
Christian student groups often face expulsion from campus—merely for being Christian. Perhaps one of the most common forms of discrimination against Christian organizations involves—ironically enough—the use of religious nondiscrimination policies (originally designed to protect religious expression) against religious groups. In other words, Christian student groups that want to be run by Christian leaders are often expelled from campus for “religious discrimination.” The First Amendment has historically given expressive organizations the right to define their own mission and message through exclusive leadership or membership policies. It is simply common sense for religious student groups—or any student group, for that matter—to be led by or composed of students who believe in the mission and message of the group. When nondiscrimination policies defy common sense, litigation frequently follows.
