Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in California
California State Constitution
I attend a ''private'' christian
university called Point Loma
Nazarene University in San Diego
California. At this school students
must sign a contract called the
''covenant'' every year which outlines
behavioral expectations for the
students based on christian ethics.
For instance we are required to
attend a church themed chapel
service every monday wednesday
and friday. If we break with this
requirement or any others in the
covenant we are fined or punished.
MY question is whether or not the
school is allowed to force us to follow
these rules that have inherently
christian presuppositions when the
school accepts state FASFA,
CALGRANT, ROTC, and Military GI
funding? I remember a famous boy
scouts case where they boy scouts
lost funding and the use of
government property because they
were discriminating religiously and
against people of different sexual
orientation and making the
government complicit in this by
accpeting their funds. I do not,
however remember when this case
took place nor what state it took
place in.
thank you very much for your time
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: California State Constitution
The Boyscout case was in San Diego and it was regarding its lease of public property. The government funding goes to the students rather than the school directly doesn't it? In any event it would require litigation to make any changes that would likely take longer than your time there to resolve.
Re: California State Constitution
Let's see: you signed a contractual agreement [promise] as a condition of getting into the school, and now you want to know if you can breach your agreement [promise] and take legal action against the school for making you honor your word? If you didn't like the rules, and the Christian concepts and rules of the school, why did you want to go to the school? The answer to your question is that when you signed the agreement you 'agreed' to be bound by the terms and accept the consequences for your conduct if you violated the terms, as long as the penalties they impose are consistent with the agreement. This is a private institution, governed by the agreement between you and the school. Whether they get government funding is not the issue or a basis for overriding the terms of your agreement. If you don't want to honor your agreement, you have the right to leave.
BTW: the 'boy scout' case you mention resulted in court decisions upholding their right to enforce their rules against unacceptable behavior or violation of their rules. That does not give support to your position.
Re: California State Constitution
Thank you for this interesting question. In my opinion, there should be no federal funding going to a religious school. Obviously, the rules were disregarded or greatly relaxed by the last administration and congress. Feel free to discuss this with your member of congress. However, since you signed an agreement, you're bound by the agreement until you hear otherwise.