Stop funding college clubs
By John Long
A bill on the way to Gov.Bob McDonnell’s desk raises some interesting questions concerning campus discrimination, the “right of the people peaceably to assemble,” and the necessity of colleges to pay for such assembly. McDonnell has yet to commit to signing it. I imagine if he does, court challenges lurk in the future. Still, it’s a debate that should continue on and off campus.
Long is a Roanoke Times columnist and director of the Salem Museum.
February 14, 2013 - 8:14 AM
Mr. Long makes a good case that we should perhaps stop funding with our tax dollars clubs that are exclusives in the sense they don’t want to allow members that don’t accept the clubs mission. He sums up with, “…Why should any such group be funded by a public institution? Rather than pick and choose acceptable organizations, why not defund them all? Let the college Democrats and the college Republicans finance themselves…..”
I whole heatedly agree which is a bad sign for Mr. Long’s argument.
Because of course, if we were to actually do this, that means the Boy Scouts no longer get subsidies from the government because they discriminate against gays and atheists. (someone please correct me – I’m thinking they’re a non-profit group in which one can write off donations from their taxes)
Of course, what Mr. Long advocates would mean things like this wouldn’t be allowed:
http://religionclause.blogspot.com/2013/02/house-passes-bill-to-allow-fema-aid-to.html
…the U.S. House of Representatives passed HR 592, the Federal Disaster Assistance Nonprofit Fairness Act. The bill, which now goes to the Senate for consideration, adds houses of worship to the list of types of private non-profit facilities eligible for federal disaster aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The change is aimed at assisting houses of worship in the Northeast that were damaged by Hurricane Sandy….
I wonder how Mr. Long feels about that?
Lastly, in the extreme, that position would imply churches should lose their tax exempt status because they discriminate against other religions.
Please help me find the flaws in the logic.
I agree generally that clubs and organizations should be able to choose their own membership criteria. But let’s back up a step. The idea that a club could be overrun by a group of students opposed to the organization’s mission is possible now, but does it happen? Is it really a widespread problem that needs to be addressed? One could just as well ask whether it’s a problem that clubs might move to exclude people of color or women or Jews (just as examples of specific groups), but in fact this kind of thing used to be the norm. I see this bill as primarily being about the right to exclude.
Mr. Long’s “solution” is to defund all clubs. But clubs and organizations are an important and useful part of the college experience. Institutions of higher education want to promote balanced living including extracurricular activities and involvement, and they believe that having a wide array of possible outlets for students helps attract them to their particular campus. Moreover, when Long says “defund,” does that include not making space available on campus to any student club? Must the bridge club meet in a coffee shop or in someone’s apartment? After all, when the institution provides meeting space to a club, and when the institution advertises the availability of the club on its web site, it is endorsing that organization and providing in-kind support. K-12 schools have solved that problem by providing space only to organizations that are universally inclusive. So maybe the same should apply to clubs at public colleges.
Yet another solution in search of a problem.