Wednesday, November 9th, 2005 at 5:47 pm | In Politics, Wisconsin |

The University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire has a policy prohibiting resident assistants (RA’s) from leading bible study groups in their dorm. The University claims that the policy is necessary to ensure that RA’s are approachable.

Subsequently, there has been a major backlash from conservatives in media and government calling for the repeal of the policy and basically bitching about how the University of Wisconsin system is run by the devil.

There are essentially two issues here:

1) Separation of Church and State

This is a pretty cut and dry issue. It’s a cornerstone of our government. But… it doesn’t appear that the University is making this claim. They just want to ensure that their RA’s are “approachable”.

2) 1st Amendment Rights

The 1st Amendment argument does hold water, since the government cannot ban speech simply because they don’t like it or the effect that it may have. But, they may place time, manner, and place restrictions on speech if the government interest is significant enough. I believe (I could be wrong) that RA’s are still allowed to hold Bible study sessions, just not in there dorm room, which in this case happens to be an extension of their paid position. If the university didn’t allow RA’s to run Bible study groups as all, they would be blatently running afoul of the 1st Amendment.

Usually, a significant government interest will have to do with public safety or national security. Given previous decisions on what constitutes a significant government interest, I don’t see how ensuring that RA’s are “approachable” even comes close to a significant public interest.

Abraham Miller, a professor of political science at the University of Cincinnati, wrote an article on Chronwatch.com about the controversy titled “Bibles Out, Vaginas In at University of Wisconsin“. I’m guessing he leans a little conservative. Anyway, he makes a great point (although not in quite the way I might express it):

The rationale for this public trampling on the First Amendment’s sacred grant of freedom of religion is that resident associates who study the Bible and pray to God might be seen as “unapproachable” by their charges. Some academic bureaucrat’s arbitrary notion of what “approachable” means, of course, trumps the First Amendment.

And how consistently has this notion been enforced? One RA who for three years staged the controversial but feminist-applauded play, ‘’The Vagina Monologues,'’ as an official residence hall activity, received praise from the Office of Housing and Residence Life. No university official suggested that participation in a controversial play that obsessed about a woman’s vagina for more than an hour would make someone “unapproachable.” Only studying the Bible would do that!

Here’s the University’s original comment on the subject, from the Journal Sentinel:

“As a state employee, you and I have a responsibility to make sure we are providing an environment that does not put undue pressure on any member of our halls in terms of religion, political parties, etc.,” Newman wrote. “As a ‘leader’ of a Bible study, one of the roles is to gather and encourage people to attend. These two roles have a strong possibility to conflict in your hall.”

It doesn’t seem as though there’s must consistency to the university’s reasoning, despite the fact that the prohibition was extended to study of the Koran and the Torah.

There is a diffence in the Vagina Monologue comparison, in that the University’s ban is on religious study groups. But, just because RA’s are technically “working” nearly 24 hours a day doesn’t mean that they can’t express themselves.

According to the Journal Sentinel:

The university’s position is backed by a similar written policy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is supported by the Freedom from Religion Foundation in Madison.

“There’s free speech, but this isn’t free,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom from Religion Foundation. “This amounts to taxpayer subsidy of worship.”

In that case, tax payers are subsidizing RA’s to go to worship, work a second job, or write a politically-oriented blog. RA’s receive a stipend… does that mean they’re always on the clock… even when they’re not performing RA duties?

There’s an apparent conflict of interests here, but I’d say that the 1st Amendment trumps any state interest ensuring that RA’s are “approachable”. If the University made a direct “separation of church and state” claim, they’d have a better case, but it would still lose.

According to the Badger Herald, both U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Wis and state Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford “called the policy unconstitutional and ‘un-American.’ They accused UW-Eau Claire of infringing on the rights of students to free speech and freedom of religion.”

They may be right about the legality of the policy, but pulling our ‘un-American’? They just hate the public university system, or at least the one run by the ‘liberal elites’. I’d say that is what’s un-american. Wow, that phrase just really pisses me off.

In the end, I end up agreeing with Green, Suder and Miller, but I doubt it’s for the same reasons. Miller’s just using the 1st Amendment as an argument for protecting his beliefs against any possible threats. But, I guess that’s what the 1st Amendment really is for… protecting speech.

Unfortunately, Miller’s call to action is too dramatic for my taste:

Stand up in your congregation and make people of faith aware of this outrage. Write to the Governor Jim Doyle of Wisconsin Jim, POB 7863, Madison, WI 53707. Write to President Bush and demand that his administration cut off all federal funds to the University of Wisconsin system.

Cut off funding from the entire University of Wisconsin system in order to save Christianity. Yeah, that’ll work real well. Just like holding back money from public schools with low test scores makes them better.

Talk about making a politically charged media event out of a molehill.

Chronwatch.com: Bibles Out, Vaginas In at University of Wisconsin

Badger Herald: Reps. blast UW-Eau Claire

Journal Sentinel: Bible study policy raises ire

Capital Times: UW-Eau Claire decides to review Bible study ban

FIRE: University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire: Ban on RAs Leading Bible Studies