Whenever a Christian student leader "wishes to plan a prayer night, fundraise, invite a fellow student to church, hold a pajama party in a residence hall, start a Bible study, or invite a guest speaker to a weekly meeting, that student must obtain the government’s stamp of approval," and Wynn can withhold it "with unbridled discretion."
"A First Amendment lawsuit makes shocking allegations of state-controlled religion -- of the kind practiced by several states before and decades after the Constitution's ratification -- by America's first "fully state supported, four-year institution of higher learning" for black students.
"The government cannot prefer Muslim and secular groups over Christian groups, cannot dictate to Christian groups how to worship, and cannot strip Christian groups of benefits for what they believe and for what they say," the lawsuit against Virginia State University states.
"The historically black school, known for its long affiliation with the late "Cosby Show" actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner, banned Women of Victory and Bethel Campus Fellowship from affiliating with their national organizations and "absorbed" them into its own taxpayer-funded Campus Ministries, according to the suit.
"They are subject to the "governance and influence" of Campus Ministries under an Aug. 6 policy that strips "registered student organization" status from only student-led Christian groups and gives Campus Minister Thomas Wynn "complete discretion to approve or reject" all Christian groups' requests , even spontaneous prayer gatherings, the suit alleges.
"The new arrangement also puts Christian groups under a Board of Advisors including faculty, public safety, "facility quality assurance" and the president's deputy chief of staff, and it even bans the free shuttles from a local church for Sunday services, the lawsuit says.
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