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

Please Read and Circulate to Interested Parties January 27, 2012 Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos Vanderbilt University 211 Kirkland Hall Nashville, Tennessee 37240 Sent via U.S. Mail and Facsimile (615-322-6060) Dear Chancellor Zeppos: The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE, thefire.org) was disappointed to learn via your January 20 statement that Vanderbilt is abandoning America’s pluralistic tradition by banning religious and political student groups from making leadership decisions based on their religious or… [Continue Reading]

Jeremiah 29:11 ”For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. When I share my Christian testimony I often call myself the accidental professor because academia was not a career choice that I consciously sought. In the early years, when I earned my GED and started my education at a… [Continue Reading]

This article was published in The Blaze on October 4, 2011. Colleges and universities pride themselves as being vanguards of pluralism.  Nevertheless, in the past decade, more and more institutions have been quietly, but systematically, restricting freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and freedom of assembly under the guise of non-discrimination. The Supreme Court has only added to the confusion.  In a 5-4 decision, the Court allowed a public law school to… [Continue Reading]