Two more Christian groups sue University of Iowa for alleged discrimination

With one Christian student group successfully suing the University of Iowa to remain on campus temporarily, two more groups have filed a lawsuit alleging the school is engaging in religious discrimination.

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF) and a campus affiliate, InterVarsity Graduate Christian Fellowship, said in their lawsuit that the university recently deregistered it solely because it requires student leaders to believe and follow its Christian faith.

The lawsuit follows an earlier one filed by Business Leaders in Christ (BLinC). The group sued after it was kicked off campus last year for allegedly denying a vice president’s position because he was gay. BLinC said the claim is false. 

After a judge found the school may not have evenly enforced its human rights policy, the university required student organizations to include such a clause in their governing documents.  

In late July, it delisted 39 organizations that missed a mid-June deadline for taking such action. The IVCF suit said among other religious groups suspended were the Chinese Student Christian Fellowship and the Geneva Campus Ministry.  

“The university’s purge of dissenters causes uniquely existential harm to religious groups,” the lawsuit said. “A group’s leaders are the embodiment of its identity and mission.”