Middlebury Union High Student Sues School
I found this interesting article in last week's edition of the Addison Independent. While it does not directly effect Middlebury College students per se, it is no doubt a thought-provoking article which I expect will spark an exciting dialogue.
According to the Independent, "A Shoreham teen is asking United States District Court to compel Middlebury Union High School to officially recognize the on-campus religious club of which she and other students are members. . . . V.O. alleges in her lawsuit that UD-3 officials have unjustly denied the Youth Alive Club the same official school recognition as other district-sanctioned clubs, such as the Gay/Straight Organization; the Arabic Club; the Outing Club; and the Student Coalition on Human Rights."
Also, "V.O. alleges that by not officially recognizing Youth Alive, UD-3 officials have:
• Denied the plaintiff equal access to all school facilities, benefits and privileges because of the religious content of the speech and association of Youth Alive Club meetings.
• Denied the plaintiff’s right to free speech.
• Treated Youth Alive differently that other student clubs 'on the basis of religious content and viewpoint of plaintiff’s speech.'
• Violated the plaintiff’s rights to due process, citing a perceived lack of district criteria and guidelines on how to attain club status.
• Violated the plaintiff’s 'free exercise of religion.'"
These are the key points in the article, but I encourage you to read the full article here.
MiddBlog wants to know: Do you think MUHS should be required to recognize the Youth Alive Club as an official school organization? Do you think that V.O. will win her lawsuit? Hit the comments.
3 comments:
Of course not. If its religious, it shouldn't be a publicly recognized club. End of story. They won't win.
fellowship of christian athletes and other religious organizations are recognized clubs at plenty of public schools. why would it be pc to discriminate on the basis of religion but not political opinion, sexual orientation, etc? they should have the same right to form a club as anybody else. it doesn't mean the school is endorsing their viewpoint, just their right to hold that viewpoint.
If ths funds for public schools originate from the government and it's illegal for the government to support any religion in the way of funds then this case shouldn't even be considered.
I think a good alternative is for this club to use church resources to meet and function.
Post a Comment