Life Demands a
Degree of Advancement
Over the past six years, there have been multiple lawsuits over
this issue, and federal circuit court decisions have been inconsistent. The U.S. Supreme Court took cert in the case titled
Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, et al. (decided June 28, 2010)
that involved Hastings Law School. In a 5-4 decision, the court
found in favor of the law school. The court’s decision was based
on the institution’s application of an “all comers” approach as the
institutional requirement for student organization recognition.
Justice Ginsberg stated that requiring groups to allow all comers to
join their organization was a viewpoint-neutral institutional policy
that enabled the school to draw a line in the sand for recognition
and funding and permitted student groups to express what they
wished as long as they did not discriminate in their membership.
This Supreme Court decision settled some issues regarding
institutional requirements for student organization recognition,
but many other issues remain, including distinctions between
an “all comers” policy and non-discrimination policies; concerns
about “safe harbors” from legal challenges regarding student
organization recognition; acceptable policy language; and the
impact on groups who hold a fundamental belief as the foundation for their organization. LE
Prepare to Be a Successful Leader
in Higher Education
Earn a graduate certificate or degree online
without interrupting your career.
• Student Affairs in Higher Education Graduate Certificate
• College and University Leadership Ph.D.
• Community College Leadership Ph.D.
Get Started Today!
www.CSUPhD.com
Saundra K. Schuster is a partner with the National Center for Higher
Education Risk Management (NCHERM), a national risk management
legal consulting firm.
Sixteenth annual seminar
An intensive four-day seminar examining technology,
student life, and cyberspace
“ICPL continues to be the premier event for discussing IT
policy and law in higher education. It provides the opportunity
to interact with great minds in an intimate setting.”
Our focus this summer will be on students and technology.
We’ll explore a range of critical topics, including:
. an introduction to policy and law in cyberspace;
. approaches to student technology policy from a variety
of campuses;
. student–parent dialogs on technology and technology policy;
. Internet privacy and management of institutional information
in the electronic realm;
. the collision between security and privacy on campus networks;
. accessibility and other looming IT compliance requirements;
. what’s coming down the road from your legislators and
regulators in Washington; and
