For the past seven years, I have been the faculty adviser for the Christian Legal Society (CLS) at Vanderbilt University.  CLS has been on the Vanderbilt campus for more than 20 years.  During this time, it has operated in the same way as have other campus ministries. CLS has always been a positive force on campus, actively participating in the law school community by hosting weekly meetings, guest speakers, and… [Continue Reading]

Mark Pody Takes Vanderbilt Police Bill (HB1150) Off Notice (LEBANON, TN) – After much debate and input from constituents, State Representative Mark Pody (R- Lebanon) has taken HB­­1150 off notice in the House.  The intent of this legislation was to protect students against discrimination on the basis of religion.  Private institutions enjoy special privileges granted to them by the state.  Some receive millions of taxpayer dollars and they have been… [Continue Reading]

Let’s not be too quick to read too much into Monday’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to deny certiorari (judicial review) in a 9th Circuit case (Alpha Delta Chi v. Reed) that applied a nondiscrimination rather than “all-comers” policy to deny recognition to a religious student group at a California public university. Because the Court denies cert in 95% of its cases, its denial of certiorari means nothing about the merits of… [Continue Reading]

Please read Kim Colby’s February 8, 2012 Open Letter to Vanderbilt’s Leaders: The purpose of this letter is to identify a solution to the current impasse between the religious students and the Administration. The letter will also touch upon four key points. First, as explained below, the Administration now acknowledges that no federal or state law, regulation, or court ruling requires it to adopt a policy prohibiting religious groups from… [Continue Reading]

What would you think of a Town Hall meeting held in a room too small to accomodate the town, ground rules that don’t allow the opposition 5-10 minutes to present their side, and lastly rigid control over who had access to the microphones?  Welcome to deliberative democracy at Vanderbilt  University.  Video of Town Hall Meeting Articles about the Town Hall Meeting: The Hustler (2/1/2012) The City Paper (2/1/2012)  Fox and Friends Video: Swain and Saio (2/1/2012)  

Vanderbilt officials have denied a request from the student president of the Christian Legal Society (CLS) to allow a spokesperson to speak 5-10 minutes at next Tuesday’s town hall meeting (January 31st).  Justin Gunter had hoped for an opportunity for the University community to hear both sides of the religious freedom argument in a public setting.  Instead, attendees will be limited to asking questions about the University’s controversial new ”anti-discrimination” policy.  Here’s the link to Gunter’s letter and the University’s response:  http://www.clsnet.org/document.doc?id=319