This article is an update to "Intervarsity Christian Fellowship Suspended," from the Monday, Dec. 5, 2011 issue.
The Student Association Senate decided Sunday to give its investigative committee more time to determine whether the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship violated legal or university statutes, effectively extending the club's suspension until the beginning of next semester, at least.
The Senate committee, established last week, was originally slated to present to the Senate on Sunday. The presentation was supposed to recommend to senators a course of action regarding the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF).
IVCF came under public scrutiny after its former treasurer, Steven Jackson, accused the club of pressuring him to resign because he is gay. IVCF has required its executive board members to sign a faith-based agreement (which Jackson had become at odds with) upon being elected, raising anti-discrimination issues because of the club's receiving $6,000 in mandatory student activity fee money from the SA at the beginning of the school year.
The Senate committee members feel they still have more work to do before deciding whether to tell the Senate to further discipline the club. Engineering Coordinator Dan Pastuf was added to the committee Sunday to replace People of Color Coordinator Anabel Casanova, who had stepped down.
The committee is now expected to make a presentation at the SA Senate's first meeting of next semester, which has not been scheduled yet. And though the Senate heard pleas from IVCF members to lift the suspension until then, senators did not appease them.
Much of the Senate's discussion regarding IVCF took place in a closed-to-the-public executive session, which lasted for over an hour while reporters, IVCF members, and other students waited in the hallway.
The Senate is leaving the decision to lift the suspension to the SA's executive board, which suspended IVCF in the first place. It is not expected that the executive board will lift the suspension; the SA as a whole is concerned about setting a precedent that would allow all clubs facing possible disciplinary action to evade suspensions in the future, according to an SA senator who wished to remain nameless.
As a result, the IVCF will remain suspended over the winter break, which will prohibit the club from holding official meetings, using the money in its budget, or holding club events.
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