Public university commandeered Christian student groups while leaving Muslim group alone, suit says

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.

By appointing "a single Campus Minister to govern all Christian activities, and only Christian activities," the public university violates five clauses in the First Amendment and the equal protection clause in the 14th Amendment, the suit asserts.

The policy excludes secular groups, the non-Christian VSU Community Faith Alliance and the Muslim Students Association, according to the litigation

Those group's RSO status gives them help with event and strategic planning, facilities for meetings and events, promotional opportunities, "online space reservations, and leadership trainings," the plaintiffs allege. They also get to participate in "Org Bazaar, an annual festival to support VSU’s registered organizations during homecoming week," the suit says.

VSU needs to take a class in "First Amendment 101" because of how flagrantly it is violating its constitutional obligations, the suit argues.

“The First Amendment clearly establishes the right of all student organizations to associate around shared beliefs," not letting governments pick and choose which get preferable treatment, Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel Tyson Langhofer said, representing Women of Victory and Bethel Campus Fellowship.

The university didn't answer Just the News queries Friday. Neither did Wynn, who is also senior pastor of Lebanon United Methodist Church and youth coordinator for the Living Waters District of the Virginia UMC conference.

Flagged for free speech violations for years

VSU gets the worst free speech rating from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which last reviewed the school's policies this May. Three of its flagged policies relate to the student organization handbook, and it has been twice singled out in FIRE's "speech code of the month" series for its alleged violations.

The Richmond-area university is an aberration in FIRE's 20th annual report on campus speech codes, released last month, which found a record-low 13.2% of nearly 500 rated schools earned its worst "red light" rating for speech policies. Red-light schools surprisingly increased in the 2022 and 2024 reports, FIRE said.

VSU isn't the only campus facing fresh viewpoint discrimination concerns. Washington's private Whitman College refused to overturn its student government's rejection of a Republican club for flatly ideological reasons despite promising protection for free speech in line with the First Amendment.

The Whitman Republican Club, for which FIRE intervened before the Trump administration, decided against reapplying for recognition, FIRE said this week. 

"This is what happens when a college doesn’t play by its own rules," FIRE said, acknowledging the limits of its own rating system, which doesn't evaluate whether written policies are consistently enforced. Whitman gets FIRE's middle rating, a yellow light, as do the vast majority of the schools rated in its annual report.

Both FIRE and ADF are supporting new federal legislation to change the financial calculus when colleges violate the First Amendment or contractually guaranteed rights of students and employees, letting plaintiffs more easily recover attorney's fees. They would qualify as "prevailing parties," for example, if a college rescinded a challenged policy.

'The King of Kings is telling us what to do' - don't sue

The Rev. Wynn's Aug. 19 meeting with Christian student organization leaders to explain the new policy — attached as a 100-plus-page transcript — suggests he follows the Apostle Peter's admonition to "always be prepared to give an answer," but not Jesus of Nazareth's to be "wise as serpents."

According to the lawsuit and that transcript:

• Wynn allegedly told student leaders their groups were covered "because you purport Jesus Christ and faith." He also trashed Christians as a group because they "kill people" and "burn crosses," distinguishing them from "avid followers of Jesus" like him, the transcript stated.

• Wynn freely admitted the MSA, the only other group with authority for "spiritual and religious affairs" under VSU's student support services, gets an exemption from the policy and suggested it might not be above board.

• He said Muslims are an "underserved demographic" who need "more equal footing and a voice on campus," yet they are also "higher up" in the administration, either in or "close to" the president's office, the transcript said.

• A Hindu or Buddhist group seeking RSO status would be evaluated on a "case by case" basis, Wynn said, emphasizing that they, like the MSA, are "minority" religions deserving of preferential treatment. As for why Christians are treated differently, he said it was "for the benefit of the university [...] It's realignment. It ain't persecution."

• He implied it would be "sinful and unchristian," in the lawsuit's paraphrase, if a Christian group challenged the policy in court, because it would undermine Christian unity. "The King of Kings is telling us what to do" — bring all Christian groups under one "on-campus directorship."

• One participant raised legal concerns. "Does the university, this being a state university, understand how this can be considered discriminatory?" an unidentified speaker in the transcript asks. "I would have total issue with BCF if they were to come and try to give a legal argument," Wynn responded.

• He suggested the policy gives him a level of oversight and control uncommon even in Christian colleges, letting him ban the BCF chapter from communicating with its national organization or even recommending a BCF national conference in a one-on-one conversation.

• Though the policy only purports to govern "formal club gatherings," Wynn told the leaders they can no longer "just get the homies together" to pray on a whim. "There's a process for everything, so everything your ministry does [...] we have to make [a] record," and their faculty advisor must be physically present.

• Wynn scolded Women of Victory after learning they "met in a common area on campus for an informal 'pajama party' to finish out" Labor Day weekend, saying they needed to get his permission even for casual fellowship.

• 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."