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Notre Dame Defends Rejection of āRedundantā Student Group Amid Controversy
NOTRE DAME, Ind., June 19, 2014āThe University of Notre Dame is standing by its decision to reject the prospective student organization FIREfor Child-Oriented Policy (SCOP), claiming the group would be āredundantā in light of other existing groups on campus. Notre Dame rejected the group following student opposition to SCOP due to its stance against same-sex marriage. FIREhas intervened on SCOPās behalf.
FIRE sent Notre Dame a letter on May 23 calling on the university to reverse its decision. Notre Dame responded on June 6 with a defense of SCOPās rejection, citing the same questionable āredundancyā rationale.
āIt is woefully ironic that a group espousing positions supported by the Catholic Church would be denied recognition at Notre Dame, one of our nationās preeminent Catholic institutions,ā said Peter Bonilla, Director of ¹ū¶³“«Ć½app¹Ł·½ās Individual Rights Defense Program. āNotre Dameās claim that SCOP is āredundantā on campus doesnāt withstand scrutiny and threatens both the free exchange of ideas on campus and true pluralism among student organizations.ā
SCOP formed at Notre Dame in early 2014 to advocate for marriage-related policies at the state level. In March, SCOP calling on Notre Dame to take a āclear standā against same-sex marriage. SCOPās petition ignited controversy at Notre Dame and prompted more than 600 students to sign a petition urging the university not to recognize the group.
After receiving initial approval from the Student Activities Office, SCOPās application came before Notre Dameās Club Coordination Council (CCC) for final approval. On April 30, CCC rejected SCOPās application, claiming that its activities āclosely mirroredā those of other organizations. CCC that SCOP was too similar to two existing student groups: the Orestes Brownson Council on Catholicism and American Politics (OBC) and the Childrenās Defense Fund (CDF).
FIRE debunked CCCās claim in a May 23 letter to Notre Dame, pointing out that the existing student groups differ substantially from SCOP. than SCOPās emphasis on marriage, and OBC is avowedly Catholic in its mission, while SCOP is officially nonsectarian. CDFās mission is wholly separate from SCOPās, focused on raising awareness of childhood poverty. CDF may not even be currently active at Notre Dame; its website .
FIRE also pointed out a serious double standard at play. Though SCOP was rejected, Notre Dame recognizes multiple environmental groups, Latino student groups, and African-American student groups on campus, in addition to several student groups devoted to various aspects of Catholic faith and practice.
āFIREis extremely skeptical any time a belief-based student organization is denied recognition for the reason Notre Dame has given,ā said Bonilla. āWeāve seen āredundancyā used all too many times as a cover for rejecting groups with unpopular, dissenting, or controversial viewpoints. Notre Dame must not allow SCOP to suffer such a fate.ā
FIRE is a nonprofit educational foundation that unites civil rights and civil liberties leaders, scholars, journalists, and public intellectuals from across the political and ideological spectrum on behalf of individual rights, freedom of expression, academic freedom, due process, and rights of conscience at our nationās colleges and universities. ¹ū¶³“«Ć½app¹Ł·½ās efforts to preserve liberty on campuses across America can be viewed at thefire.org.
CONTACT:
Peter Bonilla, Director, Individual Rights Defense Program, ¹ū¶³“«Ć½app¹Ł·½: 215-717-3473; peter@thefire.org
Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., President, University of Notre Dame: 574-631-3903; president@nd.edu
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