Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 16, 1994 TAG: 9403160076
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
The decision issued Monday by the three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the claims of students who charged the university's prohibition on funding of religious activities was unconstitutional.
Wide Awake Productions, which began publishing a religious magazine in 1990, filed suit in July 1991 after the university denied the group money from its student activities fund.
The group charged that the rector and board of visitors violated its right to free speech under the First Amendment and to equal protection under the 14th Amendment.
But the panel in a unanimous decision affirmed the ruling of a Charlottesville federal judge who rejected the claims.
"The possibility of a continuing annual appropriation for the benefit of a single religion carries the potential for seriously divisive political consequences at the University of Virginia," Judge Sam Ervin III wrote for the panel.
Subsidizing the publication would "send an unmistakably clear signal that the University of Virginia supports Christian values and wishes to promote the wide promulgation of such values," the panel said.
The judges added that offering student activity funds to Wide Awake Productions "would excessively entangle the University of Virginia with the propagation of the Christian religion."
"The Speech and Press Clause cannot be metamorphosed into a promise that the federal government will purchase a bullhorn, paper, and ink for the convenience of every garrulous member of the American populace," Ervin wrote.
Wide Awake Productions had sought $5,862 to cover publishing costs for its quarterly magazine, "Wide Awake: A Christian Perspective at the University of Virginia." The publication has covered topics including racism, pregnancy and how the church should respond to homosexuals.
In September 1990, Ronald Rosenberger, an undergraduate at the university, joined with other students to found Wide Awake Productions. About 5,000 copies of each issue were distributed free of charge to persons on campus.
The organization took its case to court after the Student Council and the university's Student Activities Committee denied its funding request. Wide Awake Productions challenged the university's funding exclusion of groups involved in religious activities.
The university said it should not fund such groups because they do not relate to the educational purpose of the public institution.
In the lower court ruling, U.S. District Judge James Michael Jr. sided with the university. The court concluded the student activity fee was not a limited public forum, the organization was not discriminated against and the denial of funding did not curtail the free exercise of religion.
The University of Virginia collects a mandatory student activity fee each semester from its full-time students. Proceeds of the collection are deposited in the university's student activities fund, which is used to support the wide variety of student activities.
To qualify for student-fee funds, a student group first must attain the status of a contracted independent organization.
For the academic year 1990-91, 343 student organizations qualified as such independent organizations, 135 applied for funding from student activity fees, and 118, including 15 student publications, were awarded funding.
by CNB