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| Credit: Kaya / Flickr |
A Students for Life chapter at California State University finally found its victory against the state institution for its discriminatory denial of student group funds.
In 2017, the University of California rejected Students for Life's funding request to pay for a pro-life speaker. All of the students at the university, including the Students for Life, paid an activity fee that provides funding for these occasions. The University of California rejected this request, while it provided other student organizations which aligned more with faculty beliefs large sums of money. In particular, the Gender Equity Center and the LGBQTA Pride Center received a combined total of $296,498, while no other student organization was granted $6,000.
Alliance defending Freedom (ADF) came to the students' aid and filed a lawsuit on their behalf to fight against the University of California's discriminatory policies in favor of free speech. After federal courts found the University guilty of discrimination, the University will pay over $240,000 in fees.
ADF Legal Counsel Caleb Dalton gave this statement: “Public universities should encourage all students to participate in the free exchange of ideas, not create elaborate and secretive funding schemes to fund their favorite groups while excluding opposing views from equal access.”
