NEWS

CHAPEL HILL -- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chancellor James Moeser today (Dec. 31) issued a statement:

"The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill values its long relationship with the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and the valuable contributions to student life and campus leadership that the IVCF has made in its many years here. I want to preserve that relationship, and I pledge to do all I can to support the IVCF and its values. To that end, I have directed that IVCF be allowed to continue to operate as an official recognized student organization.

"At issue here is the law, which requires that charters of officially recognized student groups at public universities not exclude persons from membership and full participation based on race, gender or religious belief. Carolina has worked to comply with that law, and in doing so has asked all recognized student groups to make sure their charters do just that.

"Recent media coverage on this topic referenced a letter from University staff to the IVCF requesting that the charter be amended to comply with the law. Some of the news coverage implied that Carolina singled out this Christian group as a matter of policy. The fact is, University officials made the same request of a number of student groups that wanted to use university facilities or funds generated from student fees but excluded persons from membership and full participation based on race, gender or religious belief.

"This is not a simple matter. While the University continues to seek to ensure that our facilities and resources are not used in any way that fosters illegal discrimination, we also wish to uphold the principles of freedom of expression.

"On balance, given that general membership in IVCF is open to all students, I believe that in this matter, preserving freedom of expression is the more crucial consideration. Thus I have asked our staff to allow IVCF to continue to operate as an official recognized student organization.

"I believe we can strike a balance here - one that is fair and legal."

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