Today (Wednesday) marks the deadline for the UB chapter of the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship to submit an amended constitution to the UB Student Association, but the group won't yield to all the SA's stipulations, thus risking derecognition and a possible court battle.
Quentin Hall-Lochmann Van Bennekom, the outreach coordinator for the ministry, said the IVCF has prepared changes to its constitution. Yet according to Van Beenekom, the ministry will not be altering the primary portions of its constitution concerning its "basis of faith" clause.
"We did make all the changes that the SA asked us to, with the exception of asking our leaders to ascribe to the statement of faith and purpose statement," Van Bennekom said. "The club voted unanimously to keep that clause of the constitution because we believe that all clubs should to be able to expect that leaders hold the same core values as the group."
IVCF's refusal will likely result in the Senate derecognizing the club at the next meeting (date not yet determined), and numerous SA officials have said they expect a lawsuit to ensue.
SA suspended the IVCF in early December amid allegations that the club's constitution was discriminatory. Specifically, its "basis of faith" stipulation, which requires elected officers to affirm belief in Christian doctrine, was deemed by the SA to be in violation of its and the university's anti-discrimination policy.
The SA suspended and investigated IVCF after its openly gay treasurer said he was forced to resign because of his sexual orientation. The club maintains that he agreed to resign because he no longer fulfilled the "basis of faith" - specifically, he didn't support the entirety of the Bible, including verses that condemn homosexuality.
In December, the SA Senate formed an investigative committee to inspect details of the club's constitution and to determine a deadline for IVCF to make appropriate changes. The committee determined that IVCF was in violation of the Student Association Constitution and "applicable UB policies."
SA's first deadline for the club to change its constitution was originally scheduled for Feb. 25, but the SA Senate agreed on an extension, announcing that the IVCF had until today to change its constitution.
Meanwhile, the IVCF continues to act as it did before the suspension, using donations from churches in place of the SA funding that was taken away.
"Members of IVCF are in talks with members of the Senate, both voting and non-voting, attempting to gain a better understanding for both IVCF's side and SA's view of the situation," Van Bennekom said. "We hope that we can find a resolution by communicating with the Senate and our members."
IVCF leaders have been adamant that current club policy requiring officers to subscribe to a basis of faith is imperative to their integrity as an organization. Regular members of the ministry are not required to sign a faith-based pledge.
In February, IVCF President Aaron Boucher told the SA Senate that the club "deemed it necessary that [the basis of faith] be in [the constitution] to ensure that our leaders for future generations...could represent adequately what IVCF believes in...We felt that by taking that out, we over time dilute our leadership and essentially our identity as a club."
The national body of the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, known as IVCF/USA, has come out in support of its UB chapter. On March 26, IVCF/USA Senior President Alec Hill published a letter on the organization's website, entitled "Reflections on Campus Access," in which he praised that UB's IVCF is standing its ground while still respecting and cooperating with the SA.
"It pleases me no end to observe the Christ-like responses of our student leaders, faculty advisors and staff towards university administrators and student body officers," Hill wrote. "Instead of being hostile, our chapters build relationships. Instead of being paranoid, they dwell in the Lord's sovereignty."
Andrew Ginsberg, vice president and director of advancement at IVCF/USA, told The Spectrum that the national organization has refrained from contacting or discussing the issue with SA or UB administration.
"Our posture in this kind of situation is to let the local chapter lead as much as they can and want to," Ginsberg said. "It's a UB conversation, and there's no need for the national group to insert ourselves more than is necessary."
The conflict between the IVCF and SA has significant legal precedent. In 2003, IVCF/USA filed a lawsuit against Rutgers University after the school suspended the InterVarsity Multiethnic Christian Fellowship based on its anti-discrimination policy and imposed a $1,200 sanction. The suit was settled out of court, and the IVMCF of Rutgers was required to alter its selection process of group leaders.
At Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, the InterVarsity's Graduate Christian Fellowship was placed on provisional status in January when the school found that the group was not in compliance with a nondiscrimination policy.
The IVCF/USA issued a statement on its website regarding the Vanderbilt dispute, declaring, "We believe such a policy not only flies in the face of common sense but is also contrary to the spirit of the Freedom of Religion protections in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution."
In 2010, the Supreme Court heard the case of Christian Legal Society v. Martinez. The Christian Legal Society of the Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, a public law school, filed suit after officials of the college suspended the group based on a similar anti-discrimination policy. The CLS had required all voting members to disavow "unrepentant participation in or advocacy of a sexually immoral lifestyle."
In a 5 to 4 decision, the Court determined the school was not in violation of the First Amendment.
The SA expects a lawsuit from IVCF, and Ginsberg said that litigation has not been ruled out. But he added that at the current stage of discussions between SA and the IVCF, it seems unlikely.
"We're just not there yet. We're really hoping and working to make an amenable solution," Ginsberg said. "It's very rare that we do that kind of thing. We're willing to, but it's not very helpful. What we really want to be is a group on campus that is of value and helpful and of the marketplace of ideas, not one that is in lawsuit."
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