First, the good news: In a tremendous victory for religious liberty, FIRE is reporting that Brown university has ended its suspension of the Reformed University Fellowship and allowing it back on campus:
Brown University has finally lifted its semester-long suspension of the Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) student group. As of last week, the RUF has been restored to its previous status as a recognized student group and held its first on-campus meeting of the school year on Sunday. Brown’s decision to reinstate the group came after months of public pressure from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.
No one has a better record than FIRE at pressuring private universities to maintain the basic civil liberties of their students, and it is a good sign when even ideologically monolithic universities like Brown do the right thing. Now if only Georgetown University and Pace Law School would follow Brown’s example. Second, the bad news. While free speech was winning a victory at Brown, Georgia Tech was once again covering itself with shame. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, dozens of crosses were stolen from the the Georgia Tech College Republicans’ pro-life display. I would say that I’m surprised to see such behavior in a university in the buckle of the Bible Belt, but as PBC readers know, the Alliance Defense Fund’s Center for Academic Freedom is suing Georgia Tech for multiple constitutional violations, and the leftist radicals at Tech have responded with a campaign of vicious slurs and threats directed against the student plaintiffs in the case. So it’s hardly surprising to see more of the same. Well done, FIRE. As for Georgia Tech . . . it still has work to do.