Christian groups sue Virginia State University, alleging discriminatory policy

Two Christian student organizations have sued Virginia State University (VSU), alleging that a new policy strips their official campus status and subjects them to a campus minister’s oversight, while the Muslim Student Association is exempt.

VSU Campus Minister Thomas Wynn, ordained pastor in the United Methodist Church, defended the policy, telling Christian students at an Aug. 19 meeting that the rules applied to them “because you all are faith-based” and “because you purport Jesus Christ and faith,” while the Muslim Student Association was exempted because its members “were a[n] underserved demographic” and had a contact “in the president’s office, or very close to the president’s office.” 

According to an interview with Richmond Magazine, VSU president Makola Abdullah was raised Muslim by his mother but also spiritually influenced by his Baptist grandmother. 

When asked how treating Christian groups differently than secular and Muslim groups wasn’t discrimination, Wynn said, “It’s actually to give them a more equal footing and a voice on campus,” according to the complaint.

New non-Christian groups, he added, would be considered for similar exemptions on a “case-by-case” basis because it wouldn’t be appropriate for them to be overseen by a Christian pastor. 

Women of Victory and Bethel Campus Fellowship, both student organizations at Virginia State University, filed suit Sept. 24 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia against the university’s Board of Visitors, Abdullah, Wynn, and other officials. The plaintiffs are represented by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). 

The Campus Ministries Policy, adopted Aug. 6, strips Christian student groups of their registered student organization status, cutting off access to university funding, event-planning help, space reservations, and publicity, according to the complaint. It places Christian groups under the exclusive authority of Wynn and an eight-person faculty advisory board, requires faculty oversight of gatherings, bars the groups from affiliating with national organizations, and ended a free shuttle that had carried students to off-campus Sunday services.

The scope and implementation of the new policy were further explained by Wynn at an Aug. 19 informational meeting with Christian student organization leaders. During a Q&A period, Wynn allegedly asserted authority over informal prayer gatherings as well, according to the complaint. 

Speaking about the ban on national affiliations, Wynn told Bethel Campus Fellowship it could “keep the name, but know it’ll be name only,” adding, “It is a separation.” He described the changes as being “for the betterment” of the university, saying faith-based groups should come “under the advisement, governance, and influence of the campus minister and the faculty advisory board.”

The lawsuit brings seven claims under the First and Fourteenth Amendments, including free exercise, church autonomy, establishment clause, free speech, expressive association, free assembly, and equal protection violations, arguing the policy singles out Christian groups while giving preferential treatment to a non-Christian one.

ADF Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer argues the policy amounts to religious discrimination. 

“VSU is brazenly singling out Christian clubs and treating them worse than student groups of other faiths,” he said in a Sept. 25 statement. 

Jneva Norfleet, founder and executive director of Women of Victory Ministries, said the university’s move was painful to watch. 

“It is disheartening that VSU administrators have chosen to strip our chapter of its registered student organization status,” she said in the ADF statement.

VSU has not issued a public statement on the lawsuit. The university and Wynn both declined to answer questions from Just the News about the policy and the case.